Harry Potter: Hidden Prodigy
by Mr.Oakzzz
Summary: Snape makes a different choice in a vital descision and decides to honor Lily's memory. He visits Harry during his upbringing, actively helps round up stray Death Eaters and steps out of the shadows. What does this mean for Harry? And how does this affect the rest of the world? - 1rst book in "The Hidden-Series". Hints of H/G, Good Snape, Good Dumbledore. AU
1. Pre-school years

**A/N:** _Hello there my dear readers. Nice of you to drop by this new little story of mine! This is only my second Harry Potter Fanfic, after Harry Potter and the Untold Prophecy. Which I by the way have kind of abandonned I'm afraid. This story will be kind of a rewrite on some parts while some of them will be changed and the main plot have changed. I will still have the Harry/Ginny pairing, but Severus will get a more active role in the story and Harry will not start using the Soulpiece as early as he did in the last story. _

**Summary:** _Instead of just leaving the son of the love of his life to his fate at the Dursley's, Severus decides to honor Lily's memory by trying to be for Harry what Lily, James and Sirius could not: a parental figure. Despite his duties as a Professor, Severus tries to visit Harry as often as he can and the boy grows up knowing of his heritage, though not the details of his parents death or the role he himself played in the fall of the Dark Lord that had plagued the Wizarding World. _

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this stuff in any way.

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**Chapter One:** Pre-school years

He walked up the path to the ruined house, slowly. Afraid of what he might find on the inside. Even by just standing and looking at the building, he could tell that the battle had been one-sided. The damage, the marks... it was all trademark of his former master. The wall on one side of the building had been blown apart and on the upper level, the windows had been crashed by something he would guess was a Reductor cruse. When he reached the door to the family house, he stopped on the doorstep and hesitated. Did he really want to see this? Chances were high that she was dead... Scratch that, the chances were one in a million that she was alive. Even if the Dark Lord had given her the chance to get away by herself, he knew Lily Evans would never abandon her family. She had always been like that, faithful, caring and willing to see whatever she did through to the end, even if it really meant the end. That had been one of the many things that had made her so special.

Severus felt his chest constrict painfully and he had to close his eyes to stop the tear that was threatening to spill over. After a moment, he swallowed and tried to gather his courage. He had to see this. He would never be able to rest if he hadn't made absolutely sure there was no way of saving her. He had to know. Slowly but steadily, he walked in through the open doorway. The door itself had been blown of its hinges. Taking just a mere few steps into the Potter house, he found the first evidence of death. On the floor, just a few meters ahead of him, the body of a young man with untidy raven black hair was lying face down on the ground. Severus stopped for a moment, emotions mixing at the sight. On one hand, he had always detested James Potter and wanted to give him a piece of his own mind. One the other hand, he hadn't wanted him to die and also, this meant that the possibility that Lily was also dead... he shook himself out of his dark thoughts. He had to keep going. Slowly, he made his way up the stairs. There were no signs of a battle in the upper hall. He looked around and felt his heart sink in his chest. The door to the infant's chamber had been blown down. Feeling his entire body turn colder for each step he took, he entered the chamber.

And then he saw her. There, just in front of the crib, rested the body of Lily Potter. Severus didn't know how, but somehow he managed to move over to her. When he reached her, he fell to his knees. He reached out with a hand and touched her chin. She was so cold...

Severus didn't know how long he stayed there or when the tears stopped coming. But for some reason, he looked up into the crib. It was empty. For a second, he just sat there looking at the crib and thinking of the inhabitant that should have been there. He had only seen Harry James Potter once when his parents had brought him to an order meeting because Bathilda Bagshot, who lived next door to them, could not care for him due to having caught a nasty flu. His feelings towards the boy had been pretty rusty at that time. That boy... that blasted boy was proof that Lily had deserted him, proof that she had chosen James Potter over himself. Also, that blasted boy had been the reason that Voldemort had gone after Lily in the first place. If it hadn't been for that boy, then perhaps he wouldn't be here grieving her death.

But then again... it was still her son, the only thing left of her now. What would she think of him if she knew he just left her son to die? Alright, so she hadn't thought very fondly of him since their 5th year in school but still. If she knew one of her childhood friends had turned his back on her son, then Lily Potter would be turning in her grave. He shook his head at the thought. He had to find Harry. Even if that boy had beent he reason for Lily's death... Severus himself hadn't exactly been innocent. If he hadn't told Voldemort about the prophecy, then nothing of this would have happened. Or better yet, if he hadn't chosen Voldemort and the dark arts over Lily in the first place.

Thinking about his many mistakes and how they had ruined the life of the one he loved, Severus felt tears returning to his eyes. He knew what he had to do. Lily had died to protect Harry and so would he if he had to. He had been unsure of himself in his childhood and been driven to the dark arts to gain power. Well, no more. From this point on, he would not doubt himself or hesitate in his choices. He would follow through and do what he thought was right. He would do... what Lily would have thought was right.

Feeling his new resolve burn through his entire body, he silently stood up and looked down at Lily one last time.

"Do not worry, I will make sure your son is safe, or die trying to ensure it." he said softly before turning to walk out of the room.

Now, he needed to find out who could have taken the boy. His first thought was the fraction of death eaters that would want to avenge their fallen leader, out of which Bellatrix Lestrange stood out in his mind. However, he soon thought better of it since they wouldn't know where to look for him. Even though the Fidelius charm ahd obviously been broken now that Voldemort had destroyed the place it protected, the death eaters would still need to find out where to go to find the potters. That left only a handful of people, the same ones who had known the location of the house. That included himself, the marauders, Bathilda Bagshot and... "_Albus!"_ he thought. That had to be it. Albus must have sent someone here to take the boy to safety. He shook his head. Leave it to Dumbledore to always think of peoples safety... But he couldn't protect everyone! He had failed to protect the Potters! Failed to protect _her._

Finally reaching the end of the anti apparition wards, Severus tried to think of where Dumbledore could have taken Harry. Hogwarts? No, that would make too much sense. If he had learned something about the old fool, it was that Dumbledore rarely did anything out of common sense. He always had to analyze the situation out in the slighest detail to try and ensure that he made the right descision. This often led to him overanalyzing situations, like in the case with Lily and James's Fidelius charm. If he had just taken to enlist them both as Hogwarts teachers and kept them close to the grounds, then they wouldn't have needed the Fidelius charm. And to top it off, he was pretty sure they both would make excellent teachers, though it was somewhat reluctantly he admitted to himself that James Potter really did know his stuff when he put his mind into it.

So Hogwarts was out of the question. And he would most likely not use another Fidelius charm as the last one had failed. Aside from Hogwarts, Gringotts were the safest place to place something you wanted protected but he doubted that Albus would lock Harry up in a Gringotts vault. So that was also out of the question. So where could he be?

**-:-:-:-**

On the street, just outside of Private Drive number 4, Albus Dumbledore was talking to Minerva McGonagall about why he was leaving Harry Potter in the care of his relatives. He left out the part of the Protection of Love that had been the driving reason for him to leave Harry with the Dursleys. He knew all too well that Petunia Dursley had disliked her sister ever since she got accepted into Hogwarts. The poor girl had written to him more than once, pleeding for him to take her in but he had told her that was not possible as she did not have any magic in her to begin with. But Harry needed protection and right now, this was the best he could get. He was just about to place the boy on the doorstep when he heard McGonagall give off a surprised shout and turned around just in time to see a cloud of black smoke land on the ground. As the smoke cleared off, he could make out the face of a very, very angry Severus Snape.

"Severus..." he began but was cut off when the furious potions master walked up to him.

"You. Said. She. Would. Be. Safe!" he hissed angrily, his voice dripping with rage.

Dumbledore just looked at Severus with a pained look. He didn't know what to say. He rarely lost his words, but this was one of those rare times. He had given Severus his word that Lily Potter would be safe and yet, she had died.

"I thought they would be... but they trusted the wrong person..." he said with sorrow evident in his voice. He looked away, not wanting to meet Severus angry gaze.

Severus gritted his teeth as he stopped in front of the headmaster of Hogwarts. He gave a quick look down into the headmasters arms, where a young infant rested, unaware of the rest of the world. After confirming that Harry was safe and sound asleep, he turned back to Dumbledore.

"You're right! They trusted you!" he growled.

As soon as the words left his mouth, Severus felt himself being lifted off the ground by his collar. He looked over his shoulder to see a furious Rubeus Hagrid lift his other hand and curl it up into a fist to knock him out. However, Severus quickly sprung to action and built up his legilimency. As Hagrid met his eyes, Severus made a quick push on his mind, causing Hagrid to drop him as he staggered back to regain his balance after the mental assault. Severus landed swiftly, but didn't let down the mental power he had built up. No matter how strong a person was physically or magically, their mind could not withstand a direct assault if they had not been trained in it. And Hagrid hadn't been.

"Hagrid! Calm down!" Dumbledore's voice was heard. Instantly, the half giant stopped in his tracks but he still glared daggers at Severus. McGonagall tried to hide her opinion on the exchange between her headmaster and her colleague, but wasn't fairing much better than Hagrid. Ignoring the others, Dumbledore turned back to Severus.

"While I do understand your rage towards me, I was not the secretkeeper." he said with a little more force than he intended.

Severus froze and his retort got caught in his throat. If Dumbledore wasn't the secrekeeper...

"Then was it Black? He wouldn't betray those two even if he died one thousand times over!" Severus asked as he eyed Dumbledore. He could not read Dumbledore completely, but enough so to know when he was lying. And right now, he could tell he wasn't.

"I will answer any questions you may have when we get back to Hogwarts." Dumbledore stated.

Behind them, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid looked on, warry of the former death eater. However, when Dumbledore stated he would tell Snape all he wanted to know, their faces took on shocked expressions. He hadn't even had to ask for it, Dumbledore had just given him the opportunity.

"Fine, but Harry is coming with us." Severus said firmly, looking down at the bundle in Dumbledore's arms.

"I'm afraid I can't agree with you on that one. Harry has to stay here, where he is protected by Lily's blood."

Severus was about to give his angry retort when he realized what Dumbledore had said. Blood Wards! Of course! That was why the old man wanted the Wizarding World's Savior to live with a muggle family, becuase they were Harry's real family. When he hadn't the slighest idea where Dumbledore could have taken Harry, he had apparated to the Hogwarts gates and asked the staff members where he could find the headmaster. Flitwick had told him that Dumbledore had made a visit to the adress "Private Drive 4". It hadn't clicked then, but now it did. That was where Petunia Dursley lived!

"You're not seriously thinking of leaving him here? Do you know how much Petunia hated Lily?! She would undoubtely take it out on Harry if she got that chance!" Severus hissed.

However, Dumbledore stayed firm to his descision and after a few heated words, Severus gave up.

"Alright then, but I will check up on him whenever I get the chance! And if I find he is treated badly, I WILL take him away from here, do you hear me?"

Dumbledore didn't argue with him and instead opted to put Harry down onto the ground, along with the letter he had written to Petunia and Vernon Dursley. McGonagall however, had finally worked up her courage to bite back at her colleague.

"What do you care? From what I recall, you always hated Potter, didn't you?" her eyes were narrowed and Severus couldn't help but shiver under her gaze, the same one that had been judging him during his school years. However, he did not waver.

"I couldn't care less about Potter!" he said with venom in his voice. "But Lily is another story. We were best friends, remember?"

McGonagall snorted.

"Yeah, very much so. You two rarely spoke after your 3rd year and even outright argued after your 5th!"

As soon as she said it, she regretted it. She looked back at Severus and saw him lose his confident posture. His shoulders sunk and his eyes lost their life. Had Lily really meant this much to him?

"I'm sorry, Severus. I didn't mean it." she said. It wasn't often Minerva McGonagall admitted she did something wrong, so when she did she was a little rusty.

"Of course you did. And I deserved it." Severus said before he turned his back to his older fellow Professor and disapeared in a puff of black smoke.

McGonagall stared at the spot where Severus had disapeared from, unsure of what had just happened. After a few seconds of staring, she turned to look at Dumbledore with confusion written all over her face. Dumbledore just shook his head. It wasn't his place to tell her why Severus had acted like he did. The young man would need to do that himself if he ever wanted to move on from here. And so, he just gave Minerva shrugg of his shoulder, before apparating away to talk to Severus about whatever he wanted to know. Seeing as they were the only ones left, Professor McGonagall and Hagrid soon got on their way too, joining in the partying where wizards and witches from all over the world raised their cups to salute "Harry Potter, the boy who lived!".

**-:-:-:-**

It had been a few months before Severus had gotten to see Harry since they left him on the Dursley's doorstep. He would have gone sooner, but he wanted to have Dumbledore with him to see what a bad descision it had been to leave Harry with his aunt and uncle. However, Dumbledore had been busy rebuilding the wizarding world and to be honest, so had Severus. While he was not as important a figure as Dumbledore, he did know a lot about the death eaters organisation and had been worked hard in the hunt to track down stray death eaters. When it had turned out that a group of death eaters had tortured Frank and Alice Longbottom into insanity, Severus had personally tracked down the Lestranges and Barty Crouch Jr. Frank had been one of the few Gryffindors, aside from Lily, that Severus had held any kind of respect for during their school years and Alice had been one of Lily's best friends. He felt he owed the Longbottom pair at least that much.

The duel between himself and Rodolphus and Bellatrix had been fierce and heavily loaded with emotions from both sides. The death eaters had been furious with him for turning his back on them and Severus had been furious that they had harmed Lily's best friend. Despite initially having been overwhelmed by the two, particularly Bellatrix, he had managed to turn it around by hitting Rodolphus right shoulder with _Sectumsepra, _severing the veins in it and forcing him to use his left arm for dueling, which as good as incapacitated him. This action also served to lift most suspiscions of Severus still being a death eater, as many people had thought.

When the time had come for him and Albus to finally see Harry, they had not gotten a pleasant welcoming. As soon as Vernon had spotted the two wizards outside his door, he had tried to shut it in their faces, to whic Severus had responded by blowing it to pieces, before stepping inside and hastily repairing it before any muggles noticed that the door was missing. When they had asked to see Harry, Vernon had started to roar at them that they had no right to demand things of him and that he would call the police. A few minutes and insults later, Petunia had reluctantly shown them Harry sleeping in the cupboard underneath the stairs. This, along with his already intense dislike of Petunia, had cause Severus to go through the roof. If Albus had not stopped him, then he was almost certain he would have killed the Dursley's then and there. He actually almost had the Killing Curse roll of his tongue but Dumbledore had silenced him before he got to shout it.

After forcing the Dursley's to arange for a better living arangement for Harry, Severus had reluctantly given them one last chance to keep Harry. And, to his great surprise, they had taken it. Well, at least Petunia had. She had began to give Harry real meals and she had managed to talk Vernon into giving Harry the leftover bedroom on the second floor. How she had done that, Severus didn't know but he was grateful that she had managed it. Slowly, his despise of Petunia Durlsey, that had lasted since they were both children, began to wear off as she showed signs of actually caring for Harry.

Severus visits began to become more prominent during the summers, as he was mostly occupied with his classes during the Hogwarts school year. When Harry was 5 years old, Severus had told him about his wizarding heritage and showed Harry the levitation spell as proof that magic existed. The boy had been stunned, but he soon got over it and began bombarding Severus with quesitons about the wizarding world. Whenever Severus visited, he always had a lot fo quesitons and they were always new ones. He really was a curious one, just like his mother. And so was the case even this sunny summer day, when Severus walked up the gravel walk to Private Drive number 4. He rang the bell and waited patiently until the door opened and Petunia stood in the doorway.

"Oh, it's you. Come in." she said simply.

Severus didn't argue with her on that and just stepped into the hall of the house. He heard the door close behind him and turned around to look questioningly and Petunia.

"He is in his room. He and Vernon had another argument this morning." she said.

Severus narrowed his eyes at this. Vernon still argued with Harry? It had not been easy to get the Dursley patriarcht to accept Harry into his house, and if it had not been for Petunia supporting Harry, Severus would have had gotten Harry out of her faster than Lucius Malfoy could say "mudblood". They had managed to get Vernon to agree with it, but his relationship with Petunia had been strained ever since and it was not unusual for him to argue with Harry about something, even if it was not magical.

"Don't worry. No blows were exchanged. They just shouted at each other. Something about Harry's father."

Severus nodded thoughtfully and left the hallway to climb the stairs. When he got onto the upper floor, he made his way to Harry's room and opened the door quietly. The room didn't contain much other than a desk by the window, a bed in the right corner and a wardrobe. On the bed sat a boy of around 7 of age with raven black, untidy hair. When he heard the door open and close, he growled.

"I'm not in the mood to talk, aunt Petunia."

Severus smirked. He remembered Lily behaving in a similar manner whenever she was annoyed with someone. Aside from the fact that he was as good as a carbon copy of his father, Harry really was more like his mother. Calm, thoughtful, curious and always striving to do better than he currently could. Sure, James had also been very levelheaded, but that drive usually only extended to his pranks.

"Well, I guess I'll be going then." Severus said, though he didn't move from the spot.

Upon hearing the voice of who had entered his room, Harry turned around. When he saw who it was, his face went form sulky to overjoyed in the space of a milisecond and he quickly bounced off the bed and made his way over to his _"real"_ uncle.

"Uncle Sev!" he cried happily as he threw himself at Severus, who somehow managed to catch the young boy and remain standing. The first time Harry had done this, he had fallen to the ground in shock and disbelief but after a few times, he had gotten the hang of how to catch the young Potter. Over the years, Harry had kept surprising him, like the first time he ahd jumped on him when he came to visit or the first time he had called him his "Uncle Sev". While he didn't mind it, it still felt really weird.

"Hey there kid. How have you been?" he asked as he untied himself from the little boy's arms and moved over to sit at the bed.

Harry pouted slightly that he didn't get to hug his favourite uncle, but then again he had understood that Severus felt it weird. It had only taken him 3 times of attemtped escape from Severus's side for him to get it. When Severus was seated on the bed, Harry went over to the chair and sat down.

"Uncle Vernon is being mean again. He insulted daddy." he said as his face went back into the angry expression it had held before Severus had entered.

Severus sighed. Ever since Petunia and Severus had made clear to Vernon that insulting Lily was a bad idea, the overgrown plums had taken to badmouthing James instead in his attempts to get back at Harry for "invading their home illegally". While Severus still disliked James Potter, he had warmed up to the memory of Harry's dad a little since Dumbledore told him how many times James had put his life on the line during the war to protect his wife. This, in Severus mind, was enough to deserve s light redemption, but not a complete one. He was still James Potter after all.

"I see... and what did he say?"

And so, the two went into a discussion about if James Potter had been as bad a person as Vernon had made him out to be. As soon as Severus had assured Harry that his father had not been a criminal, alcoholic or drug dealer, all of which words Severus would like to punish Vernon for teaching Harry, they went into a talk about all stuff in the magical world that Harry wanted. When Severus mentioned that there had been a case of a youngster who had used accidental magic to get his family's living room sofa to "swallow" his father's boss when he had been over one day, Harry jumped up from his chair.

"Oh, right! Check this out, Uncle Sev!" he joyfully said before reaching out with his right hand towards his desk, where a book rested.

Looking at it, Severus saw that it was the copy of _Hogwarts, A History_ that he had given Harry during his last visit. What happened next however, cause his eyes to widen and his mind to stop working for a second.

Slowly, the book started levitating off the desk. It followed exactly where Harry's hand was poining, showing that the boy had complete control over it. Severus just stared in awe as Harry levitated the book around the room before carefully putting it down on his desk again. Then, he turned towards Severus and grinned widely.

"See? Now I can make things fly too!" he said.

Snapping out of his stupor, Severus looked down to see Harry's smiling at him, obviously proud of his newfound powers. "_And with every right in the world."_ Severus thought. For a youngster to be able to control his or her magic before getting proper schooling in the matter was extremely rare and had only happened 5 times in modern society, according to what he knew form the ministry's database, out of which 3 cases had been in the last century; Albus Dumbledore, Tom Marvolo Riddle and Lily Evans...

Speaking of which, he noticed that the latters son was waiting for some kind of reaction to his feat.

"That's really good Harry. But you know, you aren't supposed to be able to control your underage magic." he said with a smile. Harry however, looked confused.

"I'm not? But it just came to me!" he said, wondering if he had done something wrong.

Severus chuckled good heartedly at the boy.

"Don't worry. It is not unheard of, just very unusual. So unusual in fact, that the last reported case where an underage witch or wizard could control their magic before attending school was your mother." he said with a smile.

Harry eyes widened with awe at this. It had come to him so naturally so he had thought that all wizarding children could do that.

Seeing that the young Potter hier did not quite understand how unusual that really was, Severus set into explaining what would usually happen for wizards children and muggleborns before they went to Hogwarts. The more Harry learned about it, the more awed he got and the more he understood just how unique his ability was. When Severus began explaining that wizards usually required a wand to perform any magic at will, Harry wanted to know who he knew who could do magic without wands. The answer got him grinning.

"So I'm technically as good as Professor Dumbledore?" he asked, though he knew all too well that he wasn't. The world's current most powerful wizard had visited him once or twice during his childhood so far and had become slightly like a grandfatherly figure to him, even though he rarely saw him.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, kid. You got ways to go before you even catch up to me." Severus said as he grinned at his young friend.

"_Although,"_ he thought,_ "there is no doubt that you will surpass me one day, or perhaps even Albus one day. Albus himself belives you can and if this early development is any indicator, you might just become stronger than even the Dark Lord was."_ He just hoped that Harry would follow his own and Dumbledore's example, rather than Riddle's.

**-:-:-:-**

The day before Harry's 11th birthday, Severus was called to Professor Dumbledore's office. As he walked through the castle corridors, he could not help but think how much had changed during the years since the Potters death. The wizarding society was now almost completely restored to its former state before the Wizarding World War and his own life had changed drastically. Never in a life time had he imagined himself as the "uncle" of James Potter's son. But then again, Harry was a lot more like his mother than his father in terms of behvaiour and personality. The suspicion about himself being a death eater had also disapeared over the years as he had helped hunting down important members of Voldemort's organisation. Even though it was frustrating to see people he could confirm as death eaters, such as Lucius Malfoy, slither away like the snakes they were and not facing punishment, he knew he could do little about that as long as he didn't have proof.

When it came to his teaching, he had worked here for almost 12 years now. During his 3rd year, he had been offered to become the head of the Slytherin house but had declined as he did not want to involve himself with that house if he could avoid it. The position had instead gone to Professor Sinistra who taught Astronomy. As the years passed, he had began wondering where Harry would be placed but if he had to guess, he would put all his money on Gryffindor. The kid was his parent's son after all.

When he reached the Gargoyle statue, he simply said "_Sugar Canes"_ and the statue began to rotate and swirl upwards to form the stairs that led to Dumbledore's office. He had been here many times over the years. When he had apparated back to Hogwarts that night, after James and Lily's deaths and his disagreement with Minerva, Dumbledore had followed him and taken him to his office to talk. When he had managed to calm down, Dumbledore had said that he wanted to start mentoring Severus personally so that, when the time came, Severus could pass his knowledge on to Harry if it turned out that Dumbledore for some reason had passed on. Though reluctant at first, Severus had began learning from Albus and after some time, he found that he had actually gotten to use all of the things he learned in one way or another during the death eater hunt.

Now, as he reached the door to Dumbledore's office, he had a pretty good idea of what this was about. As he heard the muffled voice inside the office tell him to enter, he opened the door and stepped in.

"Ah Severus, you got my message. Sit down." he said and motion to a chair just in front of the office desk he himself was sitting behind. Severus did not object and did as he was told.

"Now then, I believe you are going to visit Harry on his 11th birthday tomorrow, right?" Dumbledore stated more than asked. Severus knew that Dumbledore knew all too well that he was going to visit Harry tomorrow, but asked nonetheless just to be polite.

"That is my plan." Severus said.

Dumbledore chuckled at the man's simpleness.

"Then I hope you won't mind to deliver this, do you?" he said and handed Severus an envelope that said:

**Mr H. Potter**

**The first bedroom on the second floor **

**Private Drive 4**

**Little Whinghing**

**Surrey**

Severus just smiled. Harry was finally getting his Hogwarts letter. Over the years, Harry's magical abilities had increased and he could now even levitate his own wardrobe, though Severus had tried to keep him from doing that as he had yet to learn how to put it back down without making any noise. About a year ago, he had also managed to somehow set his desk on fire, which however, he had not been able to control.

"And when you have done that, would you be so kind as to take Harry with you to Diagon Alley? He will need to do his pre-school shopping." Dumbledore went on.

Severus scowled at the headmaster's choice of words. Even though he had been a so called "nice guy" for several years now, he still felt weird and slightly uncomfortable when someone called him kind. Dumbledore knew this of course, and Severus had a nagging feeling that was exactly why he always called him that whenever he got the chance.

"Harry's going to be delighted. He have been bugging me to take him there for ages." Severus said.

Dumbledore just chuckled and moved on to talk about how Harry had been doing lately. The closer to Harry's time to return to the wizarding world came, the more time ahd Dumbledore been able to take off to spend some time with Harry. He had been able to visit him quite a few times during these last 2 years. But this summer, he had been very busy as all the people who knew how to count reconned that the famous Harry Potter would come to Hogwarts this year and Dumbledore had been forced to shake of the press everytime he went to see Harry.

"By the way, he still doesn't know he is famous, right?" Dumbledore mentioned, just as the conversation was coming to an end.

Severus stopped to think for a few seconds. He and Harry had been talking about a lot of things this last summer, so he had to think twice before he was sure he had not told the boy about his fame.

"No he doesn't. I should probably mention that to him before we go shopping." Severus said, before the two wizards took their farewells and he stood up to leave.

Once he was out of the office, Severus thought about how things would, once again take a drastic change in his life. He had had a lot of those during these years since he left the death eaters and to be honest, most of them had been for the better. He just hoped that this coming change would not be one of those few that went for the worse. However, he couldn't help to feel a least a little bit excited for tomorrow and it wasn't only because the boy who had become almost like a real nephew to him were going to come to Hogwarts. No, this wasn't just any nephew, but a nephew who was world famous for something he didn't even know of. Tomorrow would be written down in history books for all eternity in magical society. Tomorrow, Harry James Potter, the Boy who Lived, would return to his home in the magical world!

* * *

**A/N:**_ So there you got the first chapter. It's not very long but it mainly gives an overview of Harry's life before Hogwarts. As we all know, the interesting stuff starts after he enters Hogwarts. Now to make this clear: This story will differ a lot from canon in some places and less in other places. It's not impossible that you might find a little page from the book here and there, but since I read all the books in swedish I doubt it will be exactly the same. You know how translations are, sometimes they come up with entirely new sentences that aren't in the original and sometimes they leave half a page out. I swear, those translators only run the original book through Google Translate and claim credit for it. It's almost as bad as Gilderoy Lockhart! XD_

_Now, I realize that this in itself is not much to go on for a story yet, but please bear with me and come back to read the next chapter. If you think I've done a good start here, then please review so I know someone likes me (or at least my writing). _

_Now about the chapters... I am still working on my digimon fanfic (call me a kid if you wish but its my childhood :D), but I will keep working on this as much as I can, when I don't have school and stuff to do. If a lot of people review, this story will recieve priority and get its updates quicker. I am also sticking to a policy that I will not write less than at the very least 6000 words per chapter, though I should say that includes my author notes..._

_So well, you got the story, you got an opinion on it and I dare say you know where the review button is located. Press it! We got holidays for a week here so if many people encourage me, this one might recieve a fast update!_


	2. My first real friend

**A/N:**_ Surprise surprise! I bet you didn't expect me to update this quick after releasing the first chapter! And if you did... damn, I got some pressure on me!_

_I am very happy for the response I got. Even though, as usual, I feel that 9 reviews on 36 likes and 13 favs is a little few I just hope I will get more in the future. Last chapter was a simple introduction chapter after all so perhaps this chapter will get more. _

_Also, I got one review I would like to answer:_

**sisno2200**: Don't worry. I won't make Harry become Dumbledore and Voldemort in a 11 year old body. Even though he have some control of his underage magic and is showing promise, he won't become overly powerful to start with. What's been said so far is that he have the _potential_ to surpass the above mentioned gentlemen. Fair enough, Harry will use his head a little bit more but you have nothing to fear. I hope this satisfied you and made you worry less about that.

_Now, It is time to get back to my story! =)_

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this stuff in any way.

* * *

**Chapter Two: **My first real friend

"Happy Birthday!"

Harry sat up in his bed with a start, just as the door to his room opened and in stepped his aunt. In her hands, she held a small birthday cake. Behind her, Harry's cousin Dudley was walking with small wrapped up box in his hands. Harry felt his heart swell with happiness. He never got much for his birthday. Since his "bad" uncle were the one who was handling the households economy, Petunia had to get him what she could with her own savings, which weren't much since she also had to buy the households food supplies with them. Vernon had insisted that this was the price to pay for keeping Harry in the house. If Petunia wanted to have her "freak of a nephew" in the house, then she would be the one to pay for him. Harry didn't really mind, but was always just happy for all he could get.

Dudley, while taking after his father in many aspects, such as his selfishness and how many pounds he put on per year, still had somehow gotten at least a tiny bit of understanding towards Harry from his mother. Though the two cousins did not play much together, at least he left Harry alone and didn't complain about everything Harry got.

As Dudley sat the small box down on Harry's bed, aunt Petunia walked over to the grinning boy and bent down so the cake, which held 11 candles tightly pressed together on it's small space, was on the same level as Harry's face.

"Now, blow out the candles and make a wish Harry!"

Harry didn't wait. He took a deep breath and blew with all his might at the cake, causing the 11 candles to go out. He then closed his eyes and willed his wish to come true, over and over again. He kept repeating his wish in his head until his trail of thought was interrupted by his cousin.

"I don't get how you can just sit there with your gift in your lap and not open it."

Harry opened his eyes to find Dudley staring longingly on the present that still rested untouched in his lap and laughed. No doubt was Dudley hoping that Harry would let him open it if he himself didn't do it. Like tht was ever going to happen! He grabbed the box and tore at the wrapping paper, causing it to fall of. Inside, Harry found a small, rectangular box which he curiously opened. There, inside the small box, rested what looked like a locket. He picked it up and looked at it with confusion written all over his face. While he didn't particularly dislike living here, he couldn't remember any moment from his life here that would be worth putting in a locket. With a mix of confusion and curiosity, Harry clicked the locket open and gasped. Inside was a picture of a auburn-haired woman, standing next to his aunt and smiling brightly while aunt Petunia looked a little bothered by being the picture. It didn't move, like the wizarding photos that Uncle Sev had showed him, but Harry vaguely recognized the red-haired woman. It was his mother!

"That was taken during Lily's and James wedding." Petunia said, a little embarrassed at her own antics in the picture. "I didn't know what to give you now that you are going into the magical world, but I was looking through an old photo album the other day and found this. I thought you might like it."

Harry was too stunned to say anything. He looked up from it just in time to hear Dudley mutter something about "boring" and walk out of the room. He then switched his gaze to his aunt, who looked at him, expectantly, waiting for his reaction.

"Thanks! I will always have it with me!" He said, still with surprise written all over his face.

Petunia let out a sigh of relief that her nephew liked the photo and then stood up. She would need to have breakfast ready soon or Vernon would be grumpy all day, not to mention she did not want to disapoint Harry on his birthday. While she was still warry of her nephew slightly, she had come to realize that he wasn't actually much different from her own Dudley. Only real difference, aside from parentage, was that Harry could make things fly whenever he wanted to.

"I'm glad you like it. I'll go get breakfast ready. Feel free to come down whenever you wish." Petunia said as she went over to the doorway.

"Oh, and I think Snape is coming by soon so you might want to get up." she said before disapearing down the stairs.

Hearing that his favourite uncle was on his way, Harry kicked off the bed blanket and jumped to his feet before walking out in the corridor and into the bathroom to get freshed up. Today was the day! Today, he would get his Hogwarts letter and would get to go to Diagon Alley and see the magical world for himself! Uncle Sev had told him so many stories about his own childhood and how wonderful Hogwarts was! Or well... Sev hadn't said it was wonderful exactly but to Harry that's what it all sounded like! There were so many things he wanted to see and so much to learn, he could hardly wait to get to finally go!

When he had freshed himself up, he went to his room and picked out one of the few t-shirts that wasn't hand-me-down from Dudley. Due to her rather restricted economy, Petunia hadn't been able to buy him that many real clothes and so he had to put up with stuff that Dudley had eaten his way out of (literally). However, he did have 3 complete set of his own clothes, which he saved for special days, such as when he knew he would get magical visits or for occasions such as his own or Dudley's birhtdays or christmas.

As he made his way downstairs, he could here voice come form the kitchen. Recognizing that there was one more voice than there should be, Harry hurried out into the kitchen.

"Uncle Sev!" he grinned at the sight of the black dressed wizard.

Severus smiled at Harry and reached out with one of his hands to pat the boy's head. Harry immedieately tried to duck but failed as Severus just redirected his pat and Harry groaned as the man ruffled his still wet hair.

"Happy Birhtday Harry!" Severus said with a smile tugging at his lips.

In his mind, Severus wondered what it was about Harry that made him smile all the time. He rarely smiled when he was around others, but with Harry he almost always smiled. Perhaps that happy attitude of Harry's was contagious?

"Thanks! When are we going?" Harry immediately wanted to know.

Severus chuckled. Just as impulsive as his parents. Lily had also been overly eager to get to Diagon Alley. Severus reached inside his robes to try and dig out the letter for Harry while Petunia served the birthday boy a load of pancakes for breakfast. However, Harry ignored the pancakes and kept looking at Severus expectantly. Seeing that his cousin didn't move to touch his pancakes, Dudley reached out to try and steal some from his cousin's plate.

"Here you go." Severus said and fished out Harry's Hogwarts letter, which the boy took with enthusiastic hands and tore open to read.

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore****_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,  
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.**

**Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall**

After Harry had read the contents of the acceptance letter, he looked up at Severus again. Realizing that Harry still wanted an answer on his question, Severus leaned back and said:

"We will be going after you have had your breakfast. But before we go, I would like to talk to you about something. Now eat up."

Harry nodded his head and turned towards his plate... only to find it empty. He looked around confused and found Dudley sitting with his hands on his stomach, trying to digest all of the pancakes he had obviously nicked from Harry's plate.

**-:-:-:-**

While Petunia Dursley scolded her spoiled son for stealing Harry's breakfast, another mother was scolding her twin son's for attempting to sneak dungbombs into Percy's room. Molly Weasley's screams of frustration at her sons's antics could be heard all the way up to the first floor, where a young girl sat in her room, curled up into a ball on her bed. She didn't really take in the fact that her brothers had been caught or that her mother were shouting at the top of her lungs, neither did it matter to her. Soon, all that would be gone anyway. Her brothers, her mothers screams... it would just become quiet. Soon, the Burrow would be empty, with the exception of herself and her parents, whom were both busy with work and housekeeping.

Silently, a tear rolled down Ginevra Weasley's cheek. She would be left all alone. No one to talk to, no one to play with... no one would be left here. Her dad would be away at work all day long and her mother would be kept busy to keep the house running. Ginny would be left to fend for herself. Not even her brother, Ron, would be left to play with. Sure, he had been annoying all his life and the times Ginny had just wished he would disapear from the face of earth were too many to count... but she hadn't meant it like this. Not for an entire year. And now, he barely payed any attention to her anymore. He was too excited to "finally get ouf of here" and to finally "get to do something with his life". Was she really that little of importance to him?

After another few minutes, the shouting from downstairs had calmed down, but that did little to soothe Ginny. The more she thought about it, the more it hurt to think that her brother would just leave her. She could understand that he was excited to go to Hogwarts, she would be the same if it was her who was going but couldn't he at least try and think about her, how this might be affecting her?

Sighing, Ginny sat up and dried her tears with her sleeve. She looked around her room for something to do to keep her mind of her brothers's upcoming departure. Looking at her nightstand, she spotted the book that her dad used to read for her as a bedtime story. There was one story in there that she found especially fascinating. Perhaps reading would get her in a better mood?

Hoping it would, she reached out and began to search the book for the page where her favourite story began. She knew the page by heart and if someone asked her to tell them the story, she would probably be able to recite it word for word, but it felt good to hold the book in her hands. It made it all feel more real. So she managed to find the page, which had a picture of a small baby with a lightning scar on his forehead painted under its title, and began reading.

**The boy who lived**

_Once upon a time, actually not too long ago, there was a dark wizard haunting our country. He was so poweful that wizards and witches, even to this day, still fear to say his name out loud. Rumor said that he could make the sky fall down on our heads and that he was so strong he could blow up an entire city with one single curse if he wanted to. Anyone who rose to fight him were easily taken care of by his followers, the death eaters._

_During this time, however, one family that opposed him had other things to think about. The young couple had just had their first child, whom they named Harry. Harry Potter. _

_The Potter family's happiness however, was short lived. For some reason, rumors spread that this boy had the power to vanquish the dark lord and in time, the word reached even the dark lord himself. The belief that their saviour might have been born, more and more people rose to oppose the dark lord and this drove the tyrant furious. _

_Hoping to break the spirits of the rebels, he-who-must-not-be-named began searching for Harry Potter. He turned heaven and earth upside down in his search for his supposed doom. Knowing their lifes were in danger, the Potter family went into hiding._

_But one cannot hide from fate and one evening, on halloween, you-know-who managed to track down the Potters. Hoping to save their son, the parents of the boy went up against the most powerful wizard of his time, but were easily taken care of by the dark lord, who then turned his wand on Harry. But just then, when he was about to kill the boy, something happened._

_Just as fate had allowed he-who-must-not-be-named to find the Potters, fate saved Harry from the wrath of the dark lord, vanquishing his powers and saving the wizarding world. After all he had done and all the people he had made suffer, the dark lord was stopped by a mere infant. _

_Harry, who was now an even bigger target for the death eaters, was sent into hiding once again but it is thought that he will return to us. In times of need, he came through for us and if fate wills it, he will do so again. Because if fate wills it, even the most fragile of creatures can save the world, just like it happened for Harry Potter, the boy who lived._

_The End_

Ginny sighed as she finished reading her story. It all sounded so unreal but her parents said it was a true story. They had been alive during this time. But true or not, she actually felt a little better now after reading it. She still remembered the first time her dad had read the story for her, back when she was 5 years old. She had been mezmerized. She idly wondered if Harry Potter was out there, somewhere, waiting to return. She hoped she got to meet him one day. If he ever came back, she hoped that perhaps, she would get to see him sometime in her life.

What she didn't know though, was that fate would make it so she would see him a lot more than she could ever dream of. And to top it off, in a not so distant future as she thought.

**-:-:-:-**

Harry closed the book Severus had shown him when they got to his room. He looked up at his favourite uncle with questioning eyes.

"Why am I in a story book?" he asked.

Severus chuckled at the way Harry put it. Out of all ways to ask what he wanted to know, that had to be the most weird way to put it.

"Because you are famous in our world Harry. In our world, your world, you really are the boy who lived." he said.

Harry just stared at Severus. When his soon-to-be teacher had asked to get to talk to him alone in his room after breakfast, this was not what he had been expecting. Well, to start it all off, he hadn't expected to be given a book with children's tales in the moment he sat down and he had been even more shocked when he had found his own name on one of the pages. And as if that wasn't weird enough, now Snape was telling him that it was a true story?

"But... I never did any of that, did I?" he asked and shook his head. This didn't add up.

Severus looked at Harry with sadness evident in his eyes. He really had hoped Harry would just accept it and move on without needing persuation. Now however, he realized that had been a fools hope. Harry was too much like his mother to just accept something and move on.

"Did you ever wonder why we didn't tell you what happened to your parents, Harry?" he asked silently and felt a sting of guilt in his chest.

Despite that it had been 10 years now, Severus still felt like it was his fault that Lily and James was dead. No matter how you put it, it came down to his choices and wrong-doings that Voldemort had gotten to know the prophecy and went after the Potters and the closer he had grown the Harry, the more guilt ridden he had felt. This boy didn't deserve to grow up like an orphan. He deserved to live with his parents and have a happy life.

While Snape was having a relapse into his guilt, Harry's mind went highwire trying to put everything he had learned in place. It sounded so farfetched but yet... it did fall into place. Harry had never been told about his parents because Severus had insisted that it was not important. And... he had been living with the Dursley's as long as he could remember but that didn't mean he had _always_ lived with them. If what the book said really was true, then him living at the Dursleys' house would be the "hiding" he was sent into after "he-who-must-not-be-named" had been defeated, supposedly, by him.

"What is this dark lords real name?" he asked, curious of why someone would be afraid to speak a name. It wasn't like it would call the person back from the dead, was it?

Severus looked at Harry and took a deep breath. He himself was still not too comfortable speaking the name of his former master, but Dumbledore had encouraged him to try and use Voldemort's real name and when Severus had refused, he had set up "lessons" for the young man simply to learn how to say the name, which had infuriated Snape at the time.

"We still don't like to speak his name out loud." he said. "But the wizard referred to in the book is named Voldemort."

Harry then went on to ask questions about when this had happened and how it had happened. Severus answered his questions to the best of his knowledge and in the end, Harry seemed to at least think there was a possibility that it had happened, though he still hadn't really wrapped his mind around the fact that he was, supposedly, famous.

Seeing that he wouldn't get Harry to really understand to what extent he was famous without showing him, Severus decided it was time to finally go to Diagon Alley. Introducing Harry to side-along apparition, the boy emptied his pancakes in the alley to where Severus had apparated them. When Harry was back at his feet, it was time to enter the Leaky Cauldron, that was located just around the corner from where they had apparated.

"Remember now, you are famous Harry. And you have been gone for 10 years so people will most likely be acting up when they find out who you are." Severus warned him ad they entered the inn.

Harry just nodded, but he had barely heard him. He was too excited by the prospect of finally be able to enter the wizarding world! He had been looking forward to this ever since Severus had told him about the magical world! Feeling his chest almost explode with anticipation, he opened the door and stepped in.

The atmosphere inside the Leaky Cauldron was a good one. It was warm and there was a sense of peacefulness hanging in the air. The tables were packed with funny dressed (in Harry's opinion since he wasn't used to see wizarding clothes) people, but not overly overcrowded. Behind the bar, a man stood and was currently working on cleaning some glasses. When the doorbell rang, he looked up.

"Ah, Severus. How nice to see you again. Are you here for a drink?" he asked while smiling at Snape.

Severus just shook his head and steeled himself for what he knew was to come.

"No thanks Tom. I am just escorting my young friend Harry to buy his school supplies."

At the mention of Harry, the innkeeper looked down at the small boy walking by Snape's side and gasped as he recognized the face that were so much like the boy's fathers. It didn't take long for him to understand who this boy was.

"Bless my soul... It's Harry Potter!" he breathed in shock.

In an instant, all the talking in the inn quieted down. Harry looked around in confusion at the situation the simple mention of his name had caused. Then, after a few seconds, the inn burst into life as all its current inhabitants rushed to greet Harry and shake his hand. The shocked boy did his best to cope with the situation but after a while, he began to feel almost frightened when people who had already shaken his hand came back to do it again. And again. And again. Finally, after what seemed like several hours, Severus decided that enough was enough and managed to free Harry from his admirers, but not before Doris Crockford had gotten to shake his hand for the 5th time in a row. When they got out into the backyard of the inn, Harry asked:

"What the bloody hell just happened?!"

"Harry! Language!" Severus berated him.

Harry, who had been in a state of shock, quickly put his hand over his mouth and apologized. He didn't usually use foul words, as he had been taught by Severus not to, but that had completely been erased from his mind in his state of shock. And to be honest, Severus didn't blame him.

"Well, I told you that you were famous, didn't I?" he said simply as he put his wand on the select stone to open the archway to Diagon Alley.

Harry watched in awe as the bricks began to move and shift places until they formed the archway to the alley. This day was getting weirder and weirder. Better yes, but weirder. His shock of facing his fame head on forgotten as he saw the place he had wanted to go to for so long, Harry eagerly entered the alley with Severus in toe. The young man chuckled at the boy's antics as they walked down the alley, looking in shop windows and talking about all they could see. Or well, Harry spoke about all he saw and Severus put in a simple "yes, it's nice" and "Not before we got your things" here and there. Initially, Harry wanted to go into every single shop but Severus somehow managed to steer him towards Gringott's wizarding bank. However, half way...

"But how am I going to pay for all of this?" Harry asked as he was reading through the list of supplies he needed for Hogwarts. "I got no money and aunt Petunia didn't give me any before we left."

Severus chuckled and explained that Harry had a trust vault in Gringott's, that his parents had set up before they went into hiding. He also mentioned that his trust vault only contained a small amount of the Potter family's possessions but that he would need to wait until he was 17 before he could access the family vault. When they had managed to get a sack of gold from Harry's trust vault, after a cart ride that Harry described as "funny" and Severus described as "horrible", Severus immediately dragged Harry to Flourish and Blott's to buy his school books. He let Harry sneak around in the shop to look at all the books while he gathered the books they needed.

When it was time to pay, he called Harry back and the boy returned, covered by a large stack of books he said he wanted to read. Despite telling him to put most of the books back where he took them, he allowed Harry to keep _Extensive guide for basic potions _and _Simple but Unnescesary Spells_. The potions book mainly because he hoped that Harry would take after his mother and excell in his own class and the latter because he thought it couldn't hurt for Harry to learn some extra magic. Besides, the spells in that book were supposed to be harmless so he didn't think there would be any problem with that.

They continued their shopping and after the bookstore, their next stop was the Apothecary to buy some supplies for his potions class. Severus also made sure Harry didn't buy a "funny-looking Mickey Mouse head in a bottle", that was actually a very poisonous plant called Rat's ear. When they went to buy him his school robes, Snape decided that this would be a good opportunity to go get Harry his birthday present, as he had not gotten him anything yet so Harry entered Madam Malkins boutique by himself, feeling slightly nervous.

"Hello?" he asked as he saw no one inside when he first entered.

Hearing that someone had entered, a middle aged woman came runnning towards him, whom he assumed were Madam Malkin herself.

"Hogwarts, right dear?" she asked and Harry nodded, not sure if he was supposed to say something.

Without another word, she led Harry to the back of the shop where she began to meassure him from all angles to get an understanding of how big his school uniform should be. The boutique was empty, aside from himself and Madam Malkin so Harry just did as he was told and after about 20 minutes, he was done and payed for his school uniforms.

Outside, Severus waited for Harry. Harry frowned when he saw Severus holding a cage in his hand, smiling at Harry at he approached. Inside the cage was a snow white owl with golden amber eyes.

"Happy Birthday Harry!" Severus said as he handed the cage to Harry. It took a few seconds for Harry to process what this meant, but as soon as he did, his face broke out into a smile.

"He's mine?" Harry asked in wonder as he stared at the owl in the cage who, for some reason had taken to flapping his wings angrily. Severus chuckled at the owl's anitcs before answer.

"_She_ is yours, Harry." he said with emphathis on "she".

Harry blushed and grinned cheekily at his mistake. He then looked at his new pet. She was beautiful, he thought. He would need to come up with a good name for her later, when he got the time. However, right now he still had one thing left to do: get a wand. However, Severus seemed to have other plans.

"No need to rush now, is there? It's your birthday Harry! How about we go get some ice cream and try and relax for a little while?" he proposed, which Harry eagerly agreed to. He rarely was given ice cream when he was out with the Dursley's. So, the pair made their way towards Florean Fortescue's ice cream bar.

When they got closer to the bar, Harry spotted 3 red haired people standing by the bardisk, probably buying an ice cream or more. His suspicions were confirmed when one of the persons, a small red haired girl, turned around with a large ice cream cone in her hand, which Harry swore must be held together by magic. The girl giggled happily and began running out into the service that Severus and Harry just entered to find a place to sit.

"Don't run with your ice cream, Ginny!" Harry heard the red haired man whom he guessed was the girl's father shout at his daughter. "If you stumble your ice cream will be ruined."

Too late. Just as he said it, Ginny's shoe got caught in a crack in the ground and she fell, letting go of her ice cream cone that flew high up in the air, then dove and headed straight towards Harry and Snape, who just entered the bar. Seeing a cone of ice cream heading his way, Harry instinctively raised his hand and reached out with his magic as he had learnt to do when he was smaller. Slowly, the cone slowled down its decent, until eventually, it found itself in Harry's hand. Harry cast a look at the ice cream to check if it was ok before looking up in the direction where it had come flying from... only to find three, gobsmacked red heads staring at him, including the young girl on the ground. After a nudge in the back from Severus, Harry continued walking until he was right in front of the red haired girl.

Ehm, I think this is yours." he said awkardly. He didn't understand why they were staring at him like they were. He hadn't said who he was so it couldn't be his name. Then he suddenly remembered what Uncle Sev had told him about underage magic and that young wizards and witches didn't usually have the ability to control them.

The girl accepted her ice cream back with a piped up "thanks" and then went back to her dad, not wanting to risk ruining her ice cream again. The red haired man shook himself from his shock of seeing a boy being able to control his underage magic before smiling at Snape.

"Oh my, Severus. I didn't know you had a son!" he said as he handed the bar owner his money for the ice cream and walked over to where Harry and Snape stood, daughter in toe. Behind them followed a young red haired man that Harry guessed were a few years older than him.

"That's because I don't have one, Arthur." Severus said as he walked up and met the red haired trio half way. The two men shook hands before the younger red haired man bowed respectfully to Snape.

"Then who is this?" Arthur asked with a grin on his face.

Harry flinched slightly. The inn inncident still fresh in his mind, he didn't feel too comfortable telling people who he was. He did not particularly liked being in the spotlight. He had always thought it would be nice and fun to not being just left for himself, like he usually was in the school yard during class breaks at his and Dudley's school, but the incident that morning had left him with other thoughts on the matter.

However, Severus didn't seem to think it would be any problem, since the ice cream bar was rather empty with most people eating lunch at the Cauldron. He gently gave Harry a slight push and asked:

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself, Harry?"

Shaking his head to clear it off the inn incident, Harry hoped Severus was right and this was a man he could trust.

"My name is Harry. Harry Potter."

For a moment, no one said anything. Harry heard a gasp and turned to see that the girl, Ginny he thought he had heard her being called, had grown eyes larger than pingpong balls. After a few seconds of, in Harry's opinion, very uncomfortable silence, Arthur finally broke himself out of his stupor.

"Oh, I see. Well, nice to meet you Harry! I take it you are going to Hogwarts this year?" he asked with a nodd towards Harry's trunk.

Harry breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. They hadn't went crazy about meeting the "famous" Harry Potter.

"Harry, this is an old aqcuintance of mine, Arthus Weasley. We have been working together at a number of occasions. And this is his son, Percy." Severus said, nodding to the younger red haired man.

Harry waved to Percy, before turning back to Ginny. Arthur and Severus had launched into a discussion about how well Mr Weasley's sons were doing in his classes. Harry smiled at Ginny, who still seemed to be shell shocked at learning his identity. Well, Harry thought, he would probably be shocked too if someone told him that he was talking to Robin Hood from disney's book of bedtime stories. After a few seconds, Ginny seemed to shake herself out of her stupor.

"Uhm... H-hi, my name is Ginny." she said as a light pink color began to cover her cheeks. Harry however, didn't notice as his gaze had found its way to the giant ice cream cone in Ginny's hand. Severus had said they would buy ice cream, but now it seemed that would take a while.

Ginny noticed he was looking at her ice cream and managed to build up her courage enough to ask:

"Uhm, you want to have a taste?" she asked nervously. Inside, she felt like a flock of butterflies had entered her stomach. Just this morning, she had read his story and hoped she would get to meet him one day and here she was, talking to the very same Harry Potter! It was a little strange though... he didn't seem any more special than herself or her brothers.

"You would do that for me?" Harry asked, taken aback by the girls kindness.

Together, the two young kids made their way over to where Florean Fortescue had put out a cup with extra spoons to use for eating the ice cream that was not served in cones. However, in order to prevent children from taking them down to play he had put them on a rather high shelf, which neither Harry nor Ginny could reach. Harry however, got an idea.

Reaching out with his right hand, he willed his magic to grab the cup with spoons and lifted it down, using levitation. Ginny stared wide eyed as he took 2 spoons out of the cup and then levitated it back into place.

"How do you do that?" she asked, awestruck. Perhaps Harry was a bit special after all.

Harry thought for a moment. He didn't really know how he did it. One day, he had sneezed and accidently released a burst of magic that had lifted his book high into the air and then dropped it down. Realizing what he had done, he ad begun trying to learn how to do it at will and after a time, it had come to him. It had taken him a while to realiize that he did not have to sneeze though, so he had spent several hours tickling his nose and sneezing to try and create the same effect.

"I'm not sure but when I learned about my magic, I tried to learn how to use it at will. At first, it just came out without warning but the more I tried to make something move without touching it, the more I learnt to control it. Uncle Sev says that its unusual for children to control their underage magic, but I wonder if that many actually have tried?"

Ginny nodded her head as she accepted the spoon she was given. She had only used magic a few times and that had been accidently. And, to be honest, she had never tried to control it because her parents and brothers had told her that it was impossible.

As the 2 of them ate Ginny's ice cream, Ginny asked if Harry though that she too would be able to control her underage magic if she tried and Harry said that she wouldn't know until she tried at least. As they made their way back to where the grown-ups were sitting, Ginny began to feel more comfortable with Harry. He seemed nice and kind and, she noticed, curious about her. When her ice cream was gone, Harry said that he hadn't bought his own yet and together, they walked over to the counter and Harry pulled out his sack of gold form his pocket, which caused Ginny to once again go wide-eyed. Without Severus keeping an eye on him, Harry decided to buy the largest ice cream possible and when Harry and Ginny came dragging it towards the table, Severus finally noticed what the two had been up to and groaned at Harry's descision.

As the two grown ups scolded their respective charge, neither of the children seemed to care too much as they swallowed down as much of the ice cream they could, though it should be noted that more than half of it was left when the two of them were full. Checking his watch, Arthur realized that they needed to go find their family, who was apparently around shopping supplies. Percy highly stated that he had finished his quick. Saying good bye and promising Ginny to send his owl to her when he got home, Harry and Severus walked off towards Olivander's Wands. Or well, Severus had to push Harry on the trolley as he was so full of ice cream he could barely stand.

"Uncle Sev, do you believe in birthday wishes?" Harry asked when they left the Fortescue ice cream bar.

Severus frowned and raised an eyebrow, wonder where this came from.

"Well, not really. There aren't any magical proof that a wish made to a birthday cake are due to be fulfilled. Why do you ask?"

"Because mine just got fulfilled." Harry said with a cheeky grin. Severus frowned. Had Harry been wishing for ice cream?

"Really? What did you wish for?" he asked.

Harry chuckled and leaned back ont he trolley. After sighing with relief and happiness, he looked up at Severus and grinned from ear to ear.

"A friend."

* * *

**A/N:**_ So, there we go. You got your fast update! I know the end was kind of rushed, but to be honest, there wasn't really that much to be said about those conversations. I also decided to leave out the scene at Olivander's because it will be essentially the same as it is in canon. But still, I hope you liked this chapter! I've been working on this all day long! _

_Now, I don't want to disappoint you but don't expect updates to be this quick. I can't lock myself in my room and write fanfics on my comp all holiday long, even if I wanted to. _

_Unlike last chapter, this one isn't as much of a filler chapter and I think this gives a better idea of the story. As said in the description, it will be a Harry/Ginny story but they won't be immediate lovebirds. Love is rarely quick to blossom and never easy to get to. If a relationship buddles too fast, it's simply not true love. It's Amortenia! No but seriously, jokes asides I don't intend for them to get toghether before year 3 at its earliest and even then it feels a little early. _

_Now, I hope this chapter was good and lived up to your expectations. I hope you have time to leave a review a those are what keeps an author going. Until we meet next time, have a good life!_


	3. Ginny's Happy Month

**A/N:**_ Hello everyone! I am currently riding a wave of inspiration after getting such a good start with this story so here comes chapter 3! I should note that I am currently on a break from school and won't be able to write as much after this week but don't worry, I will keep going! _

_Oh, and for those who are interested I have answered some reviews. Since I know some of you probably think "Just gimme the story already ffs!" I have put the answered reviews in my post-chapter AN at the bottom. _

_Now, I won't hold you back any longer! Here comes the standard Disclaimer..._

**Disclaimer: **I don't own this stuff in any way.

._.. and here comes the story!_

* * *

**(Recap):**

_"Uncle Sev, do you believe in birthday wishes?" Harry asked when they left the Fortescue ice cream bar._

_Severus frowned and raised an eyebrow, wonder where this came from._

_"Well, not really. There aren't any magical proof that a wish made to a birthday cake are due to be fulfilled. Why do you ask?"_

_"Because mine just got fulfilled." Harry said with a cheeky grin. Severus frowned. Had Harry been wishing for ice cream?_

_"Really? What did you wish for?" he asked._

_Harry chuckled and leaned back on the trolley. After sighing with relief and happiness, he looked up at Severus and grinned from ear to ear._

_"A friend."_

* * *

**Chapter Three:** Ginny's Happy Month

Harry watched as Hedwig, his snow white owl, flew off in the distance. Once he had gotten back from Diagon Alley, he had said good bye to Severus and made his way to his room. It had not taken him long to get out a piece of parchment and a quil and, though unused to the writing material and tool, scribble down a few lines for his owl to take with her to his new friend. When he had been done with that, he had immediately set to unpack his new school stuff. Excited to learn all he could about the magical world, his world, he had just grabbed one of the books and thrown himself down on his bed to read.

He usually weren't a bookworm, but right now he was just so excited finally get to know the world where his parents had lived. Severus, and on occasion the funny old man with glasses, had told him so many things about the magical world. He could barely contain his excitement when he was called down for dinner an hour after he had gotten home.

Uncle Vernon had scowled at him and for every second that passed, his face had gotten redder and redder as Harry showed exactly how happy he was by talking constantly about all the things he was going to learn. At last, Vernon had blown up and screamed at Harry to go back to his bedroom and "read his bloody books if it was so bloody important", which Harry, to the older man's annoyance, had happily agreed to.

He was currently laying in his bed, reading _The Standard book of Spells_. It had been a good 3 days since he had sent off Hedwig now and he was starting to wonder just how far away Ginny lived. Come to think of it, he had never asked in what part of England "the Burrow" was located. What if Hedwig had gotten lost? No, that's not going to happen. She probably just takes her time. No need to rush after all. There was still almost an entire month before it was time to go to Hogwarts. He could wait. Besides, it wasn't like he didn't have anything to do here. He still had to do some chores for his aunt and uncle now and then and when he didn't he had a stack of interesting books to read.

_Tap tap tap..._

Harry looked up from his spell book when he heard the tapping on his window. There, outside, Hedwig was tapping her beak at the window to gain entrance. Like shot from a gun, Harry closed his book and flew up from his bed to let in his owl. _Swish. _As soon as the window had opened up, Hedwig flew in and landed on his desk. After flapping her wings, Hedwig held out her leg where a piece of rolled up parchment had been attached. Harry picked out a box with owl treats and gave Hedwig before he got loose the parchment and opened it, filled with anticipation.

_Dear Harry_

_Thanks for your letter! It really cheered me up. My brothers haven't had time for me lately as they are all going to Hogwarts soon so your letter came as a happy surprise. I actually didn't think you would write so quickly. _

_Oh, and you should give your owl a pat on the head. She bit Ron's finger when he tried to snatch your letter from me! A beautiful owl, by the way. What's her name? _

_I hope you will have a good year at Hogwarts. My brothers have told me all about it and I can't wait to go next year! Wish I could go this year, with you and Ron but I'm still too young._

_I hope we can meet at the platform before you leave for Hogwarts though! I'm going to try and convince mum to let me come along to see my brothers off._

_Your friend, Ginny_

Harry read the letter over and over again. After the third time, his face broke out into a smile. Ginny had signed the letter "your friend"! He finally had a real friend! During his years in muggle school, he had never had any real friends. Sure, he had not been the worst bullied student there, but he hadn't had anyone to talk to or hang out with and, though he would never admit it, had been a little envious of Dudley for being the most popular person in their class.

But here he was and he had finally made a friend! His heart sank a little in his chest when he read it over a fourth time and registered that Ginny would not come to Hogwarts this year. He promised himself that he would write her as much as she could in order to try and make her feel not so lonely.

**-:-:-:-**

Ginny was sitting in her room again. She had been doing that a lot this summer. She knew her mother was worried that she was shutting herself off from the rest of the family but she couldn't stand watching all her brother have fun and prepare to go to Hogwarts without a care in the world. She just felt so... left out. Harry's message had cheered her up a little but now that the excitement from that was gone, she felt all alone again. The owl had been a nice company, not talking about what she was going to do at school and not playing things that she thought Ginny to be too small to do.

But of course, it was Harry's owl and for Ginny to answer him she had to send the owl away. If she had been able to, she wouldn't have minded to keep the bird around for a while, just so she would have someone to talk to. Someone who doesn't talk down to her or make fun of her.

She could of course try and read something to keep her mind of things, but the only book that really captured her complete attention was the Story of the Boy who lived but for some reason, that story didn't feel quite as special anymore. Perhaps, now that she had met the real Harry Potter, reading about him weren't as exciting. Now, she was more excited to get to know the real Harry Potter. Oh, she couldn't believe she just said that! The _real _Harry Potter! If someone had told her just a few days ago that she would have made friends with the real Harry Potter, she would have thought they were mental. Well, she would have _wanted _to believe it but it would have sounded so... farfetched. Why would the world famous Harry Potter want to be friends with someone like her, Ginny Weasley, whom her own brothers rarely paid attention to?

Well, perhaps she could ask him when his answer came? If his answer ever came... "_No Ginny! Don't think like that!_" she told herself. Surely there must be something good about her or Harry wouldn't have minded her at all. But what could it be? What made her special? Well, except for her being a Weasley and her hair being a tiny shade darker than the rest of her family. She was decent at flying... but no, Harry wouldn't know that, not even her own family knew about that. There must have been something tangible, since they really hadn't had any contact before they became friends. But what about her would be special? She was a girl just like anyone else.

Well, the only answer would be to ask Harry. She would have to wait until Harry wrote her back to ask him in her reply. But how would she ask it? Ooh, this was getting more depressing than looking at her brothers plan for Hogwarts!

"Ginny! It's time for dinner!" her mother's voice came from downstairs.

Sighing, Ginny stood up. If she didn't come down to dinner, hell would break loose, almost as bad as if her mother would had heard her say those words.

"Coming mom!"

Throwing one last look out her window, hoping that Harry's owl would be back when she got up from dinner, Ginny made her way over to the door and went downstairs. Her room was on the first out of seven floors so she didn't have a long way to go, unlike her brother, Ron, who lived at the seventh floor. Ron already sat by the table however when she entered, along with Fred, George, Percy and her dad. Her mother had just made a stew fly over Ron's head and land onto the table before moving over to sit next to her husband. Ginny sat down without a word and waited patiently for her brothers to have their go at the stew before serving herself.

"So Ginny, what were you doing in your room? You have been locked up in there for 2 days straight now." asked her mother.

Ginny swallowed down a mouthful of stew and potatoes, then took a gulp of water to wash it down before answering.

"Well, yesterday I was writing Harry a letter and today I haven't really done much, just reading." she said before blowing on her spoon to try and chill her next mouthful of mushroom stew.

However, as she said it, snickers could be heard around the table and, irritated by her brothers making fun of her, Ginny looked up. Fred had been leaning towards his twin brother and whispered something in his ear which the others couldn't hear while Ron had been staring at Ginny before shaking his head.

"Are you still going on about that dream of yours?" Ron's voice clearly showed that he wasn't too interested in what she had said, just that he thought she was being silly.

Ginny felt her cheeks heat up and without thinking, she stood up, causing her chair to fall to the floor.

"I'm telling you, I have really met him! And he have sent me a letter! Why don't you believe me?!" she cried out in anger.

Ever since she had mentioned her meeting with Harry in Diagon Alley and him wanting to be her friend, her brothers had been making fun of her. Well, except Percy of course but he wouldn't understand humor even if his life depended on it. Teasing had been expected from Fred and George but to Ginny's annoyance, Ron too had taken to downplay their meeting to silly imagination.

"Geez, calm down sis. I was just thinking that you were taking this a little too far. You don't need to bloody blow up at me!" Ron exclaimed at her outburst.

Ginny gritted her teeth and was preparing a nasty retort when her mother's temper blew off, having been triggered by Ron's use of "bloody", which she deemed as an unforgivable act of crime.

"Ronald Weasley! I don't want to hear you talk like that! Especially to your sister!"

While Ginny didn't appreciate being babied by her mother, right now it felt good to see Ron being put in his place. He used to be really nice and a good playmate but the closer he had gotten to attending Hogwarts, the more they had been gliding apart. Recent days, he had become such a prat! If she didn't know better and if he didn't deny it so badly, she would say he was starting to become like Percy!

"But mom! She blew up at me first!" Ron tried to defend himself.

"It doesn't matter! No such words in my house!" Molly Weasley said with an edge in her voice, just daring her son to talk back to her.

After a moment, Ron shook his head and looked down.

"Alright, I won't say it." he said with a defeated voice, though he added "I'll just go outside instead." so no one could hear it, except Ginny.

Ginny however, had more pressing matters. Her stew and potatoes lay forgotten on her plate.

"Dad! You were there! Tell them I met Harry!"

Arthur Wealsey looked a bit troubled at being brought into the argument between his two children. It couldn't be more obvious that he had wanted to just eat his food and then disappear from the table, most likely to go outside and study some muggle artifact he had found somewhere he shouldn't have been. However, as his daughter fixated him with a hard, yet pleading look, he finally relented and joined the conversation.

"Well, what Ginny is saying is true. We met Harry outside of Florean Fortescue's ice cream bar. He was there with Severus, Hogwarts Potions Master." Arthur said, hoping that he could get back to his food now so he could get out and take a closer look at that fascinating thing he had managed to confiscate after work. Muggles called it a "car". How they got something as big to move without magic, he had no idea. So he was really eager to pick it apart and study its insides.

"Professor Snape is a Hogwarts teacher. I trust that when he said that the boy was Harry Potter, then it really was him. Besides, someone like Professor Snape wouldn't need to boast with being in Harry Potter's company, as he is quite the accomplished wizard himself." Percy put in.

Ginny scowled at her oldest present brother. During these days, he hadn't backed her claim even once when she said that she had met Harry Potter, not even when she had asked him specifically to tell the others that it was true. But now, when the "honor of a teacher" was at stake, he suddenly was incredibly interested in adding his own point of view to the speculation. Her insides already boiling with anger, Ginny heard Ron speak up again.

"Even if that is true, why would someone like Harry Potter want to be friends with Ginny?"

That did it. With a furious scream of frustration, Ginny threw her arms up in the air and without a warning, the stew on the table exploded. Tears had formed in her eyes, be it from anger or hurt she didn't know but it didn't matter. She turned and with one furious burst of underage magic, her chair flew over the table and crashed into Ron, who yelped and dropped to the floor. Not stopping to be reprimanded by her mother for her temper, Ginny took off up the stairs and slammed the door to her room shut as soon as she reached it. Once inside, she threw herself down onto her bed and let her tears fall freely. She could hear the commotion downstairs but she didn't care. Why? Why did her brother had to be such a stupid, insensitive prat?! Why didn't he ever listen to what she said? It would be way into the night before Ginny Weasley managed to find a mental state calm enough to fall asleep.

**-:-:-:-**

Severus was walking through the corridor that led to Professor Dumbledore's office. It was late in the night, but he had been called to an emergency staff meeting and, being the loyal man he was, he had not hesitated to quickly get out of his dungeon to join the others. Since his office were the one farthest apart from Dumbledore's, he probably would be the last one to arrive. And just as he had expected, when he rounded the corner so the Gargoyle statue that guarded the headmaster's office came into view, he saw that the stairwell had already been raised. Without giving it the chance to lower itself down again, Severus rushed over and went up the stairs to the office door, where he knocked patiently. Upon being called into the office, he entered.

There, he saw that everyone was already in place, just as he had thought. Professor Dumbledore was standing by his fireplace, watching the fire with a thoughtful look on his face and Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Vector, Sinistra, Kettleburn and Quirell was sitting in a group by a conference table that usually was not present in the office, probably conjured or transfigured by Dumbledore for this meeting. The only ones who was not there was, as far as Severus could tell, Trelawney and Binns, none of whom he really cared or had expected to show up. Of course, there were a few other teachers here at the school during school years, but they were currently off with either their family or on vacation.

"Ah Severus, glad you could make it. Please have a seat." Dumbledore said and motioned for Severus to take the seat in between Professor Kettleburn and Professor Sinistra.

Severus just nodded and took his assigned seat. As soon as he did, the door to the office flew open and in stepped Rubeus Hagrid, the gamekeeper of Hogwarts. The half giant came to a hasty stop when he spotted all the teachers sitting by the conference table and then looked questioning towards Dumbledore.

"Oh, eh... am I interupting somethin'? Did I get the time wrong?" he asked, a little confused.

Dumbledore chuckled and turned away from the fire and started walking to sit by the table.

"No my dear Hagrid. You got the time right. Please sit down. I have saved the sofa especially for you." he said as he sat down at the seat overlooking the rest of the table.

Hagrid looked confused but did as he was told and sat down at the sofa that was turned towards the table. Now, with all the castle's current inhabitants present, everyone turned to look expectantly at Dumbledore. The call for the meeting had not included any details on what this was about but, being the ever well-informed man he was, Severus had a good guess as to what it was.

"As some of you may already be aware of, an old friend of mine approached me with a request by the end of last term." Dumbledore began, confirming Severus theory.

Mumbles were heard throughout the gathered group. It was apparent that rumor had spread among the staff that a certain old friend of Albus' had visited the castle after last year's term.

"This old friend of mine asked me to guard a specific item of his, one that he feared someone was after to try and steal it. Earlier today, that item was retrieved from Gringotts and brought here."

At the mention of this, Hagrid perked up in understanding and immediately pushed his chest out, leaving no doubt to who Dumbledore had sent to retrieve said item. Severus would have snickered at Hagrid's pride in himself if he hadn't thought that the half giant deserved more credit than he actually got for all the things he did for Dumbledore.

"And now... you want us to aid you in protecting this item, I presume?" Professor Sinistra, the head of Slytherin, asked. Like always, she wanted to cut straight to the chase and not beat around the bush.

Dumbledore smiled at his Astronomy teacher's perceptive skill, even though it hadn't been that hard to figure out. At Dumbledore's approving smile, most of the people rolled their eyes. It hadn't been that hard to figure out.

"You are correct, Aurora. That is indeed why I have summoned you all here. In order to set up the most effective defense here at Hogwarts, I need help from each and everyone of you."

At that, muttering broke out across the table. Ever since Nicolas Flamel had visited Dumbledore in his office, rumors had been going around the school about what the famous alchemist could possibly want to ask of their headmaster. Of course, like with most rumors, there was a big variation in what they all said and if even half of them were true, then Severus would be willing to eat his own hair.

"So, if we are to protect this... item, don't you think we have the right to know what it is we are guarding?"

"Oh, I thought you had already had figured it out?" Dumbledore said smiling.

Severus eyed the occupants of the table. Professor Sinistra was whispering with Professor Sprout, no doubt sharing her own thought on the case. Professors Vector, Flitwick and Kettleburn were also talking with each other. Quirell didn't do anything. He just sat in his seat, giving off his normal nervous expression. McGonagall didn't talk to anyone either, no doubt because she, like Severus already had figured it out. Sighing, Severus decided to once and for all put the rumors to rest.

"This year, Hogwarts will act as the protective sanctuary for the Philosofer's stone." he said, immediately silencing everyone.

**-:-:-:-**

Ginny didn't know how she had managed to fall asleep after her row with Ron last evening, but it would appear that somehow she had. The morning outside was beautiful. She could hear the birds chirping outside and tried to sleepily opening her eyes. She must have forgotten to close her window before she fell sleep. Grogily, she sat up and opened her eyes. And immeditely stumbled to her feet in shock. There, on the back of the chair by her desk, sat a snowy white owl, watching her with amber eyes. Harry had wrote back!

Suddenly forgetting all about her tiredness, Ginny sprung to her feet and darted across the room towards the desk. The owl didn't flinch but simply tilted her head to the side and held out her leg where the piece of parchment was tied. Eagerly, Ginny untied the parchment and unrolled it to read it.

_Dear Ginny,_

_I hope you're doing good, or at least better than it sounds like. How many brothers do you have and how many of them are teasing you? I wish I could do something about it but I'm afraid I can't._

_My owl is named Hedwig. I'm not really good with names but I thought it fit her. A beautiful name for a beautiful owl, right? _

_I am looking forward next year when you can come with us. Don't worry, this year will fly by and before you know it, you will be on the train. Look at it this way, you are now closer to Hogwarts than you have ever been before! That's how I used to look at it. _

_But until then, we barely know each other yet. What are your favorite color? What do you like to do on your free time? For your information, my favorite color is red (I've heard that's considered girly?) and I like to read about magic on my free time._

_Your friend,_

_Harry_

Ginny read it over and over again and felt her resident dark thoughts from yesterday slowly leave her system. Right then and there, it didn't matter that Ron had been a prat at dinner. It didn't matter that none of her brothers didn't believe her or that they made fun of her. Right then, she felt that the only thing that mattered was Harry and his letter. He hadn't made fun of her or looked down on her. It didn't escape her notice that he, despite undoubtly being excited to go to Hogwarts this year, didn't mention that in his letter. Instead, he had said he was looking forward to _next year_, when _she _would be coming with him to Hogwarts. Why would he be so eager for that? After all, he had said himself that they barely knew each other.

"Ginny?" a voice was heard from her door.

Ginny snapped out of her thoughts and turned around. Her bedroom door was ajar and through the slit, her mother was peeking in.

"Hi mom." Ginny answered simply. While she wasn't in a bad mood anymore, she didn't feel like she wanted a repeat of yesterday's episode. Thus, talking was not on the top of her "to-do list".

Molly Weasley entered her daughters room a little carefully. She was well aware that Ginny had a temper that could rival her own and, while not one to hold grudges, you never knew what mood she would be in after she had one of her outbursts. Especially if she didn't calm down before she fell asleep. Either she could wake up like a new human being or she could wake up like a veela who had been pulled by the hair. When she noticed Ginny already being out of bed, she tossed aside her caution to the side and stepped inside.

"How are you feeling dear?" she asked before she cam to a stop when she spotted the owl sitting on the chair's back.

"I'm ok mom. Sorry I blew up yesterday, I just got so angry."

Her mother forced her gaze away from the bird in her daughter's room and refocused her it at Ginny. The girl in question was still standing with Harry's letter in hand.

"Hm? Oh, don't worry about it. Ron shouldn't have behaved like that, I don't know what's gotten into him lately."

Ginny shook her head and put Harry's letter down on her desk. She would also like to know what had gotten into Ron lately. There was a lot of things lately she found herself wondering about.

"Uhm, what was that you were reading just now and where did that bird come from?" her mother asked, a little hesistantly.

Ginny cast a look at her mother, then at the owl in her room and then at Harry's letter. Well, at least she had proof to back her claim.

"Well, the owl belongs to Harry. The letter I was reading was from him. I think it must have arrived when I was asleep." Ginny answered truthfully.

Her mother's eyes widened in shock. While she had never questioned Ginny's claim that she had become friends with Harry Potter, she had been sceptical to it. When her daughter had gotten home from Diagon Alley, all giggly about having met "the" Harry Potter, she at first thought she must have been fooled by Fred and George during their visit but according to them, no such thing had occured (not that they ever admitted their pranks to her face). When Arthus had began to back Ginny ever so slightly, Molly hadn't known what to think.

"So uhm... what is Harry saying?" she asked awkwardly.

Ginny smiled before grabbing the parchment again and shoved it into one of the drawers.

"Secret!" she squeled happily.

Watching the two Wealsey's from her place on the chair back, Hedwig decided this would be a good time to remind them of her prescence. She fixed her eyes on Ginny and hooted to try and get her attention. It succeeded.

"Oh, I'm sorry Hedwig. You probably want something to eat, right?" Ginny said as she walked over to where the owl was sitting and held out her arm. Hedwig gave another hoot to show her appreciation and climbed onto the outstretched arm. Ginny, still being quite small for her age, stumbled slightly at the new difference in weight but managed to stay upright.

Watching her daughter interact with the owl, Mrs Wealsey smiled. She hadn't seen Ginny this happy since... well since Ron started to act like he was more mature than he really was. Or well, at least his own sort of mature. But even before then, Ginny had rarely been seen this happy for a long time.

"Why don't you both come down to join the rest of the family for breakfast? It should be finished soon. And we got some owl treats for you... Hedwig was it?"

As if she had understood (which she probably had), Hedwig tilted her head in an imitation of a nod. Mrs Weasley let cast one last look at Hedwig and Ginny before she walked out the door and down the stair towards the kitchen.

5 minutes later, Ginny was making her way down the stairs with Hedwig perched on her head. When she entered the kitchen, she found Ron sitting by the table while her mother was commanding some bread to cut itself by magic. When her eyes settled on Ron, she narrowed her eyes and just walked straight up to her seat at the table and sat down. From the corner of her eye, she could see her mother watching the 2 of them warily, no doubt taking notice of Ginny's mood swing at the sight of her brother. Ron, as thick as he was, seemed to also have noticed that his sister was not in the best of moods and turned nervously in his seat.

"Uhm, Ginny?" he asked carefully, doing his best not to let out the fear he felt for his sister's temper. While she was not as bad as their mother just yet, yesterday had proven to him that Ginny could be quite frightening as well if she got really angry.

Ginny, who had been giving Hedwig some owl treats her mom had gotten out for her, just gumbled in response.

"Uh, well about yesterday... I'm sorry. That last bit was way out of line." Ron said.

Ginny gave Hedwig her last bit of owl treat and gave her a pat on the head, earning an appreciative hoot in response, before turning back to her brother and fixating him with a glare that made him question his sanity to confront her about this.

"You're right, you were way out of line." Ginny said with a venomous voice.

Ron actually sunk lower into his seat as he met his sister's gaze. Since when had little baby Ginny gotten so... scary?

"So... I was wondering, are we alright?"

Ginny studied him for a moment. She wasn't one to hold a grudge and, despite all his flaws, she still wanted to be good with her big brother, so she nodded to him. Ron let out a sigh of relief. Ginny however, got a mischievous glint in her eye and stood up, before making her way over to him to whisper in his ear:

"On 1 condition though: I get to borrow your wand for a little while later, ok?"

Ron didn't like the sound of that. After witnessing Ginny's burst of accidental magic yesterday, he had become aware that Ginny too was a witch. The thought of her performing magic had never really crossed his mind, at least not in the way it did now. He could just picture himself being the victim of a curse sent at him by an older Ginny for pranking her or teasing her about something. Praying to Merlin that he would not be on the recieving end of whatever she had planned, he gulped and nodded to her.

Ginny smirked evily. She had been wanting to try this ever since Bill had sent a letter and suggested she used it to get revenge on Fred and George for all the times they had pranked her but she hadn't been able to get her hands on a wand. She had memorized the incatation to the hex Bill had recommended and then gotten rid of the letter. If her mother found it lying around in her room, she would be in for a whole lot of trouble. Not to mention Bill would get the scolding of his life when he got home and that was not something she wished for him.

Happy that she had gotten what she wanted, Ginny went over to the sink to wash her hands before making herself a sandwhich. She was after all a good girl and always did as her mother had told her. Well, at least when her mother was watching. What her mother didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

**-:-:-:-**

_Dear Harry_

_This last month have been incredible! It started out pretty bad but aside from that one argument by the dinnertable, it have been one of the best months in my life! My brothers have been nice and I've made a new friend! Even Ron have been less of a prat, I think he got scared out of his wits when he saw me hex Fred and George. I don't I told you exactly what happened?_

_Well, here's the thing. I got this letter from my brother Bill, who works in Egypt, where he gave me instructions on how to perform a hex called the Bat-Bogey hex and he recommended it for Fred and George as a revenge for all the times they have pranked me. I got ahold of Ron's wand and tried it out and it worked like a charm! It was nice to be able to stand by the side and laugh at them for a change, since it is usually the other way around. _

_Thanks for those muggle sweets by the way. I've never had any muggle sweets before but the green ones were really good. I hope they sell those down in town so I can get my mom to buy some for me next time she takes me shopping._

_Since it's only a few days before 1 september when I write this I doubt you will have time to send a reply so I will just hope to see you at the station. I will try and get my brothers not to leave packing to the last second like they usually do, because it always results in us being late. Last year, the twins also put itching powder in Percy's school robes so he had to clean them all over again before we could be on our way and we almost missed the train. Perhaps I should "accidently" mention the Bat-Bogey hex when mom isn't listening?_

_I hope you are excited to go and that you have a good year at Hogwarts! See you at the station!_

_Your friend,  
Ginny_

Harry read the letter over and over again. He smiled to himself. Ginny sounded a lot more cheerful now than just one month ago. He couldn't believe it had really been a month since they had first met. It felt like it was only yesterday. And at the same time, it felt like second nature to him to have Ginny to write to, it was like they had always known each other. It was a complicated feeling. He couldn't really describe it.

After the first letter, Harry had taken to ask Ginny about some of her preferences and how it was like to grow up in a wizarding family. Despite all the things Uncle Sev had told him, he really didn't know anything about how it was like living in the magical world. He was sure Ginny must have thought he was mental for asking some of the questions he did, like how wizards did their laundry, but she hadn't actually mentioned it and simply answered his question. He really looked forward to seeing her again, even though it would most likely only be briefly.

And well, tomorrow was the day! Tomorrow he would be leaving the Dursley's behind and go to Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had dreamt about this for his entire life and now, it was finally time to go! He was a little sad that Ginny wouldn't be coming with him but that made him look forward to next year even more. But now, he had to take one year at a time. So he crawled over to the end of the bed and unchecked the last day in his calendar before his departure before he crawled back and wrapped his blankets around him. Resting his head on the pillow, he thought about what he wanted to do this year and then what he would want to show Ginny the next. He really hoped that Ginny wouldn't be too lonely without her brothers but from the sounds of it, she had cheered up and resigned herself to the fact that they would be gone for a year.

It was strange, being so worried for someone else. He had never had any friends to worry about. But Ginny had really opened up to him and they had talked about all kinds of things over the month. He had even admitted things he thought he would never admit out loud, such as being jealous of Dudley for being a "popular" kid and his fear of not fit in at Hogwarts. Ginny had told him that there was no risk that he would not be "popular" at Hogwarts and had in turn confided in him that she used to sneak out at night and break into the family's broom shed and try to teach herself how to fly.

Rolling over, Harry felt like he must have been one of the most lucky boys in the world to have gotten such an awesome friend as Ginny, despite not having had any friends beforehand. Unknown to him, in a strange house named "the Burrow" just outside of Ottery St. Catchpole, a red haired girl did the exact same thing. Feeling sleep overtake her, Ginny rolled over and wondered if she wasn't the luckiest girl in the world to have made such an awesome friend, when she needed it the most.

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**A/N: **_So there we go! Chapter 3! This one was a bit difficult to write because I wanted to give a good impression of how Harry and Ginny got to know each other, but at the same time I didn't want to stretch the chapter to include an entire month of correspondance. I hope I did ok though. It may not be the most exciting chapter in the story but I feel like it turned out pretty good. _

_Now, to answer some reviews:_

**_anyeshabaner:_**_ Perhaps I will write that in another story. I can understand that it would be funny to read Severus and Harry's interactions over the years but that is not what this story is about. You might see some in flashbacks later on in the story, but if a lot of people want me to, I can write a separate story that covers Harry's childhood. _

**_sisno2200_**_ : Haha, yeah you are probably right! That sounds exactly like good old Albus! If the above mentioned idea of a prequel story gets enough support, I am definetely going to include a chapter where Snape gets his "Learn-to-say-Voldemort-without-shivering-lessons" , just for the fun of it. It would be pretty hilarious!_

**_marinka : _**_I hadn't really thought of when to get them together, but that is actually a pretty good idea. I will probably leave hints to it earlier than that but Ball does seem like a good time for them to "come to their senses"._

**_Cosmyk Angel_**_ : I agree. That is one of the reasons I will draw it out a little. Except that it usually makes a more solid relationship in the end if the two have known each other for some time, it will take them a few years before they both get interested in stuff like having a relationship. I mean, they are 11 and 10 years old atm!_

**_To anyone else who reviewed:_**_ Thanks a lot for the support and I hope you keep on enjoying the story and that your little group of reviewers grows with time!_

**_Announcement!_**_ I am a sucker for good variety and so I want to include as many spells, both combat and mundane, into this story! If there is a certain spell you want me to use, or a spell you have made up yourself, please tell me! I would really appreciate home-made spells! They are usually the most fun ones to use!_

_If there is a spell made up by another fanfic author that you particularly like, then tell me what story it comes from and I will talk to the author about using it. If there is a spell you have made up yourself, then give me incantation and effects! You can leave this in a review or in a PM! Thanks beforehand!_

_Now, I wish you all a good life until the next chapter! Take care and I'll see you then!_


	4. Meeting the Weasleys

**A/N:** _Hey guys! I'm back with another update! Now, I want to start by saying I'm back in the swedish equalent to High School so updates might become a little slower from now on. That said, I'll try to keep working on this as long as I still get good response on it! =)_

_Now, I want to give a HUGE thanks to my reviewer **Above the Winter Moonlight** for giving me that website to check out all existing spells and curses. It will be of great help. I also want to give you guys a big heads up for the poll in my profile that asks for your opinion about what house Harry should be in at Hogwarts. Now I want to point out that if I find it too hard to get the story together if he is placed in a specific house, then I might overwrite your vote with my own... but that is just a super, extreme in case of emergency. So please go vote for Harry's house!  
_

**Disclaimer:** Let's say it like this: If I owned Harry Potter, I wouldn't be writing this here.

* * *

**Chapter Four:** Meeting the Weasleys

Harry awoke early in the morning. He hadn't been able to sleep properly, he was too excited! Today was the day! Today, he would leave the Dursleys behind and go to Hogwarts school for Witchcraft and Wizardry!

Feeling his body boil with anticipation, he practically flew to his feet and got dressed before he ran downstairs to start making breakfast. Uncle Vernon had agreed to drive him to King's Cross train station as long as Harry did not say a word of magic before he had left. Fair enough deal, as long as Vernon did not push it. But even the thought of his uncle could not ruin Harry's mood. He whistled innocently while he fried the bacon and eggs and soon he had 4 plates filled, out of which 2 held double the amount from the other 2. Just as he was finished, Uncle Vernon walked into the kitchen, grumpy to be awake so early but he didn't say anything. Figuring he might as well get it over with as fast as possible, Harry quickly swallowed down his breakfast without saying a word and went upstairs to brush his teeth. When he was done, he grabbed the trunk he had packed the day before and somehow managed to get it downstairs without accidently dropping it on his toes.

The car drive was not very eventful. True to his word, Harry kept silent as he did not want to give Uncle Vernon any chance to go back on his word. He wasn't sure what Uncle Vernon would count as "freak talk", but he had a suspicion that his uncle would come down on him if he even opened his mouth so he did not want to push his luck. It wasn't until Harry had gotten a trolley for his trunk and managed to load the heavy trunk onto it that Uncle Vernon opened his mouth.

"We have been told to come get you after the end of your school year, but if you somehow disappear on us, the petrol cost will have been more than worth it to be rid of you once and for all. So try not to show next year." he spit out before he sat down back in the driver seat and before Harry could reply, the car rolled out off the parking lot.

Harry just shrugged. In his own opinion, not showing up after the year did not sound so bad, as long as he could get Uncle Sev's permission not to. He didn't really get why Professor Dumbledore wouldn't let him leave the Dursleys but had learnt long ago that it was not something the old man would give into. With a bubbly feeling in his stomach, probably from nerve, Harry pushed his trolley into the station. Once he was inside, he sat down on a bench to take a deep breath. Now he just needed to get onto the platform and he would be on his way... THE PLATFORM!

Harry sat up with a start as he realized he had no idea how to get onto the platform! Uncle Sev and Ginny had told him that the Hogwarts express left from platform 9 3/4 but he could not for the life of it remember ever being told where that was. How stupid could he be? He had had years to ask Uncle Sev and it had never befallen him that platform 9 3/4 could possibly be a hidden location.

Without wasting another second, Harry began to frantically push his trolley down the platforms, searching for any sign of magic that could tip him off about where platform 9 3/4 was located. When he reached platorm 9, he was dearly hoping that the next platform would be his stop, but no, the platform after 9 was platform 10. Feeling his stomach clench, he sat down on his trolley and stared up at the sign that marked the platform. What if he couldn't find it? What if, after all this time, he wouldn't be able to go to Hogwarts because he could not get to the platform?

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he did not hear the sound of tiny feet running across the concrete ground before he was overthrown by what seemed to be a red hurricane.

"Harry!" Ginny squeled happily as she threw herself at him. Harry gave off a shout of surprise and tumbled off of his trolley to land hard on the ground.

Feeling his butt ache more than it had since Dudley had tackled him to the ground during a game of soccer at school, the last soccer game he ever played, Harry looked down to find Ginny hugging him with her face buried in his shoulder.

"Ginny!" he smiled as he got over his initial shock.

The young girl looked up at him with a look of pure happiness on her face. The warmth in her brown eyes made Harry feel his chest heat up, despite the abnormaly cold september morning. Having regained his composure, Harry carefully undid Ginny's arms around him and the 2 got to their feet, Ginny blushing slightly from embarrassment of her behavior.

"Ginevra Molly Weasley!" came a shout from the direction Ginny had just come from.

At the sound of the woman's voice, Ginny flinched and turned around to see her mother come running towards them, apparently having left behind her brothers with their trunks as she had taken off after her daughter. Harry looked up at the woman and seemed to tremble in fear, afraid he had done something wrong. He was used to screaming being a sign that he had done something he should not.

When Molly Weasley had reached them, she bent over for a second to catch her breath. Harry didn't dare say anything, not knowing what to say or do in a situation like this. Apparently neither did Ginny, or maybe doing nothing was just the best way to handle this situation. Judging by the red hair, Harry would guess this was Ginny's mother and so trusted that his friend knew how to handle this. As soon as she had regained her breath, Mrs Weasley rose in her full lenght.

"What have I told you about running off like that, Ginny? I have told you a million times _not to run off on your_ own!"

Ginny just twisted nervously at the spot. While she was not afraid of her mother, she knew that she had went straight against what her mother had told her to, as she had just mentioned, a million times.

Harry saw his friend twist in her place and tried gathering up his courage, hoping he did not make things worse.

"Uhm, excuse me ma'am, I think she was just happy to see me again. We haven't met since Diagon Alley." Harry said, trying to hide his hesistance but failing misserably. He hoped he did not intrude on their conversation. Aunt Petunia had told him intruding on other's conversations could be interpreted as rudeness.

Hearing the boy speak, Mrs Weasley turned to face Harry. Ginny though, tried to look the other way to hide her pink cheeks but couldn't help but sneak a look at Harry who was looking up at her mother in an apologizing way.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear. I'm Molly Weasley, Ginny mother." Mrs Weasley stated, clearly embarrassed at her own rudeness for not introducing herself.

Harry, feeling his nervousness leave him at the woman's gentle smile, smiled back up at Mrs Weasley.

"I'm Harry. Harry Potter." he said. While he did not like people to know who he was due to his fame, the Weasley's he had met so far had not seemed to excited by his identity. Molly Weasley proved to be no exception.

"Oh, yes Ginny have mentioned meeting you in Diagon Alley. It's nice to see she is finally making some new friends."

Beside him, Harry heard Ginny snort when her mother said "she had mentioned meeting him in Diagon Alley", causing Harry to believe Ginny had "mentioned" it more than once. Turning to look at his friend, Harry finally noticed Ginny's blush. He frowned. What was so bad about being happy to have made a new friend?

"Mom!" came a shout from furhter down the station. Harry turned to see 4 red haired boys, 2 of which obviously were twins, walking towards them with big trolleys similar to his own. He recognized Percy as the oldest of them and after what Ginny had told him in her letters, he could easily make out that the shortest of the 3 remaining was Ron, the one closest to Ginny in age, and the twins were named Fred and George. When the boys had reached them, Ginny grabbed Harry's hand and smiled at her brothers, particularly Ron, who was staring wide eyed at his sister's friend and his eyes immediately shot up to Harry's forehead, no doubt in search of the famous scar. Harry twisted slightly under his gaze and as soon as Mrs Weasley noticed the interaction between the 2 soon to be classmates, she left Ginny's and Harry's side to reprimand her youngest son for his behavior. While Ron was being scolded for his rudeness, Percy went up to the 2 friends and held out his hand to Harry.

"It's good to see you again Harry. I trust you are excited to finally get to go?" he asked with a, in Harry's opinion, overly important voice.

Behind Percy, Fred and George snickered and one of them, Harry's was unsure of which one of them, made an imitation of a very pompous person by pushing out his chest and taking on a snobby look. Harry did his best not to laugh and simply shook Percy's hand.

"I am really excited to go but... I don't know how to get to the platform." he added the last part in a low voice, slightly embarrassed to admit it.

Ginny giggled at his embarrassment while Percy, for some reason, took on a pose and look that strangely resembled the one Fred or George had just demonstrated.

"I see, well then allow me to help you! I am _prefect_ after all." he said in a, if possible, even more important voice than before.

Harry frowned but allowed Percy to guide him towards the portal that, apparently, was the barrier between platforms 9 and 10. As Percy explained to Harry that he simply had to walk or run straight into the barrier and he would find himself on the platform, the rest of the Weasley family joined them. Harry didn't notice but behind him Ginny had a sour look on her face that was directed at Percy. If the older boy noticed it, he didn't care and instead opted to show Harry by running straight into the barrier. When Percy was gone, Harry decided to back down, which prompted the twins to go forth. After seeing 3 people pass through without fail, Harry felt confident enough to dare a try and turned to Ginny.

"C'mon Ginny, let's go!" he said with a smile.

Ginny stumbled slightly at being adressed by Harry. She had been thinking about the best way to prank Percy and had her head in a different world. Nevertheless, she took the hand Harry offered and followed him to stand in front of the barrier. Casting a side glance at her mother,who gave her an encouraging smile, she grabbed Harry's trolley and the 2 began to push it towards the brick wall. Ginny, having went through the barrier before, didn't even flinch but Harry, still a little nervous about running head first into a supposed brick wall, closed his eyes at the point of impact. But the impact never came. After a few seconds, Harry opened his eyes again to find himself and Ginny standing at a new platform. In front of them, people were scattering about and families were saying there goodbyes to their children that had already boarded the train.

Harry couldn't move form his spot. He just stared at the activity. These people... they were like him. In his life, he had only ever met 3 wizards before going to Diagon Alley, out of which one he didn't even remember (and probaby didn't want to remember). Severus had always told him there was a lot more magical people in the world than he could possibly imagine but it wasn't until he ahd gone to Diagon Alley that he had actually started to think about it. But in a way, this was even more thrilling than Diagon Alley. In the alley, there had been a lot of people all ages, but here there were only children his own age and their families. Some of these would be his roommates once they got to Hogwarts. Some of these would be his friends. Except Ginny, Harry really didn't have any friends.

For a few moments, Ginny watched Harry take in the sight of platform 9 3/4, but soon began wondering why he was so overwhelmed. Surely, he must have known there was a lot of wizards in the world?

"Harry? Aren't you going to get your trunk onto the train?" she asked carefully, unsure if it was a good idea to break his moment.

Harry snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Ginny.

"Of course, sorry. I guess I just kind of blacked out there for a moment." he said and began pushing his trolley towards the train.

Ginny watched him out of the corner of her eye. She was not very experienced when it came to reading people but something told her that something was off with Harry. She decided to ask him about it later.

When they reached the train and had managed to somehow get the trunk and Hedwig's cage into one of the carriages, they found themselves in a pinch as they needed to get it onto one of the luggage racks. The trunk was heavy and no matter how much Ginny tried to make it move, it just wouldn't. She didn't notice that Harry had stopped trying to lift it and was just standing by the side, smirking at her vain attempts.

"Need a hand there, sis?" came the voice of one of the twins.

Harry looked away from Ginny to see both the Weasley twins making their way over to them. Ginny had also stopped her vain attempts, but her gaze was settled at Harry who was standing calmly by the side, not the twins who had just joined them.

"Why aren't you helping Harry?" she asked, slightly hurt that he hadn't done anything to help her when she had tried to be nice and help him get his trunk loaded onto the train.

The twins seemed to be thinking in the same lines because whatever they had been planning to say had been caught in their throats as they were looking from Harry, to Ginny with the trunk, then back at Harry again. Harry chuckled at Ginny's confused face as he extended a hand towards the trunk and pulled upon his magic. Slowly, the trunk was lifted off the ground. Ginny flinched when it began to move and took a step away from the levitating trunk. Fred and George stared at the trunk in awe as Harry lifted it up onto the luggage rack. When he was done, Ginny stuck her tongue out at him.

"Why didn't you do that from the start?" she asked.

Harry smiled at her, as if trying to say he hadn't meant anything bad.

"I just wanted to see how long it would take you to remember that I can control my underage magic." he said innocently and recieved a slap on his arm.

"Prat!" Ginny said and stuck out her tongue at him again.

For a moment, Harry was worried that he had really upset her, but his worries soon evaporiated as a mischievous smile shone through her fake hurt expression. Not being able to hold it in, her face broke out in a smirk and she giggled at Harry's expression of mixed worry, confusion and apology.

"How can you..."

"...control you magic..."

"...if you have never..."

"...recieved any training?" the twins asked.

Harry frowned, trying to make out what they had been saying, which was not easy as they had been saying different parts of the sentence. Ginny couldn't help but think that his confused expression made him look cute and had to turn away to hide her pink cheeks. For once, Fred and George did not comment on it, as they were busy staring at Harry.

"Uhm, well after I learned of my magic, I began trying to use it at will. After a while it just came to me." Harry said, hoping to get away from their stares as quickly as possible. They made him slightly uncomfortable.

He did not have to put up with it for long as in Mrs Weasley chose that moment to try and gather her family for one last farewell before her sons left for school. Hearing their mother call, the twins shook themselves out of their stupor and bid Harry goodbye, saying they would see him later. Harry was just about to go and look for a comartment when Ginny grabbed his arm.

"Oh no, you can't escape me that easily!" she said.

Harry frowned. Something in her voice told him that there was something she wanted to say. He had thought she would want to say good bye to her brothers, but she didn't seem to have any intention of joining the rest of her family just yet.

"What made you freeze up when we entered the platform? It was like you had gotten a shock or something?" Ginny asked with a hint of worry in her voice.

Harry just stared at her for a moment. How had she noticed? He hadn't been that obvious, had he? Or better yet, what should he tell her? He felt slightly embarrassed for the reason he had frozen like that, but at the same time, Ginny had proven to be a really good friend so far.

"Well... the thing is... when I saw all the kids here I couldn't help but think that these are the people I am going to spend a lot of time around. Some of them are going to be my classmates and perhaps even... well, perhaps even become my friends. You see..." here, he broke off for a second. He wasn't sure if he wanted to admit it, but then again she already knew he had not been a popular kid in his neighbourhood. "Well, I have never really had any friends before I met you, so I guess seeing so many potential friends kind of freaked me out." he said at last.

Ginny's eyes widened. He had told her that he was not a popular kid where he came from, but he didn't have any friends? _The_ Harry Potter had lived his life without even a single friend?!

"What are you... saying?" Ginny heard herself ask in shock.

Harry hung his head in shame. He wasn't really ashamed of not having made any friend, more like embarrassed but this was a very sore subject for him. He was not sure how Ginny had looked upon him until now, but he had feared that once she got to know that he didn't have any friends, she would not want to be friends with him. Ginny was the only friend he had, he did not want to lose her.

Meanwhile, Ginny felt herself torn. She didn't know how to respond to that. She wasn't even sure if she was supposed to respond to that. During the month they had known each other, Harry had been a great friend to her, dare say her best friend. She could not understand why no one would want to be friends with him.

"Well, I'm sure you will make a lot of good friends at Hogwarts!" Ginny said, trying to cheer him up a little but as she said it, she felt something within her cringe at the thought of Harry making new friends. What if he forgot about her? What if he didn't want to be her friend anymore when he had made older, better friends? The thought of it burned on Ginny's insides, making her want to cry. Suddenly, she did not want Harry to go to Hogwarts. She wanted him to stay, so they could be friends forever.

Harry nodded his appreciation for her support. He wasn't all too confident about his own ability to make friends, but well he had managed to befriend Ginny so he must be good for something.

"Thanks Ginny. I'll be sure to owl you as often as I can to let you know how it goes. I'm looking forward to next year when you can come with me!" he said with a genuine smile on his face.

In his mind, Harry knew he had an alterior motive to what he had said. Since they probably wouldn't see each other for so long, he was afraid Ginny would forget him, so he had decided even before he left Private Drive that he was going to send her loads of owls to ensure she didn't.

Looking at Harry's smiling face and hearing his declaration, Ginny felt a bit of her worry disappear. She just had to trust that he kept his word.

"Ginny!" Mrs Weasley's voice made its way over to them.

The 2 cast a simultaneus look over to where the Weasley's were having their final goodbye. Harry looked down at Ginny with a sympathetic look. It was obvious from the way she looked in their direction that she wanted to go say one last goodbye to her family. Harry wanted to go sit down in his compartment to avoid attention, but when Ginny cast a sideward glance at him and then looked back at her brothers, he knew he couldn't just leave her like that. So, gathering his courage, he jumped down from the train and grabbed her hand. She jumped slightly at his touch and turned to look at him with questioning eyes.

"C'mon. Let's go say goodbye to your family." he said as he began leading her towards her family.

The look on Ginny's face said it all. She was thankful that she wouldn't need to leave Harry to say goodbye to her brothers. Harry felt a little proud that he had managed to read her correctly.

As soon as they made it to the Weasley family, Harry stayed behind to allow Ginny to say her goodbyes without interuption. He had to hold back a snort when Fred suggested that they could send her a Hogwarts toilet seat to cheer her up. Other than that, it was some light conversation withing the family and Ginny seemed to try and make as much of the last time she saw her brothers for a year. When Mrs Weasley had stopped fussing over some dirt that apparently was stuck on Ron's nose, the embarrassed boy made his way over to stand beside Harry, probably hoping to stay out of arms reach from his mother. When the warning whistle sounded, the twins said their goodbyes and quickly left to find their friends. Percy disappeared in much the same way after ensuring his mother he would try to keep an eye on the twins for her, which caused Ron to lean towards Harry and whipser:

"Yeah right. He have failed to do that for 2 years already and I doubt he will do better this year."

Harry grinned at that. He still wasn't all too sure where Ron stood, still remembering Ginny's first letter, but he hoped that Ron really wasn't as bad as Ginny had made him sound.

"Well, we won't find out if we miss the train. C'mon let's go." Harry responded as he and Ron began making their way towards the train.

They were half way to the train when Harry stopped and looked back towards the remaining 2 Weasley's at the platform. It seemed that in the moment of parting, Ginny had finally broken down into tears after seeing her brothers one by one just walk away. Percy and Ron hadn't even had the thoughtfullness to give her a proper goodbye. The twins had given her one, althought through a joke. Harry looked back to Ron and signaled for him to not wait for him while he ran back to his first friend. Ginny's eyes lit up seeing Harry run back to her and as soon as he was within range, she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him into a hug.

"I can't leave without saying good bye now, can I?" he said, to which Ginny just responded by burrying her head in his shoulder.

Harry cast a hesistant look at Ginny's mother, who smiled at the 2 children warmly. Over the month, Molly Weasley had noticed that Ginny had cheered up a lot and the steps she had taken had always come after the snow white owl she had met that morning in Ginny's room had made its return trip to its owner.

When the whistle sounded again, Harry carefully broke the hug and looked down to meet Ginny's brown eyes. For now, the curiosity he had seen in them during their first meeting was replaced by a look of sadness from the departure of her brothers and, he thought with a mix of happiness and guilt, himself. But he was sure she would pull through. And he would do all he could to help.

"I'll send an owl as soon as I get to Hogwarts. I promise." he said as he tried to look reassuring.

"Thanks." was all Ginny offered as an answer but Harry didn't need any more than that.

Looking into Ginny's eyes one last time, Harry felt he wanted to give her one last token of reassurance. He had seen aunt Petunia do it to Dudley a thousand times when he was upset. Perhaps it could still Ginny's worries and sadness a little too?

Feeling his chest constrict with nervosity, he bent forward and planted a light kiss on Ginny's forehead, before he let go of her and ran for the train, that had now given off one last whistle and started moving. As he was focused solely on catching the train before his first ride to Hogwarts got a rather abrupt finish, he didn't see Ginny's face change from shock, to happiness to a very red embarrassment. Mrs Weasley's eyes had widened at Harry's action, but she quickly brushed it off as children's play. Neither Harry nor Ginny had reached the age where the opposite sex got interesting so it couldn't possibly be any indication.

Harry reached the moving train in record time and jumped in through the door Ron had been holding for him. As soon as he had gotten inside, the red haired boy closed the door. Harry took a moment to regain his breath before looking out the window to see Ginny waving at them, half laughing, half crying. Harry gave her a smile and waved back until they had taken a turn and the platform was gone.

"Well, let's go find a compartment." Ron said as he tried to manouver his trunk through the train corridor.

Harry turned to look at him and couldn't help but smile. The sight of Ron trying to lift the trunk that was technically as big as he himself was looked hilarious. He figured he could give him a hand but then again, Ron had been a pain for Ginny during summer up until last month. Perhaps he could fend for himself a little longer. Therefore, he simply led them to the compartment that contained his trunk. As soon as they reached the compartment, Harry flung himself down onto one of the seats and leant back, watching Ron try to heave the trunk onto the luggage rack without much success.

After some time, Ron looked down at Harry with an irritated look.

"A little help here wouldn't hurt, you know." he said as he once again tried to get the trunk up onto the luggage rack.

Harry smiled slightly as he decided to give him a little help. He held out his right hand like he had done with his own and before Ron could even give off a confused look, his trunk was being lifted onto the shelf. It took a while for Ron to process what had happened, but when he did his face reddened slightly.

"You could just have done that and you still let me struggle with it?" he asked, anger evident in his voice.

"Well, you didn't ask for help, so I thought I'd leave you to it." Harry responded, raising an eyebrow.

Ron looked irritated, but decided to let it slip and just sat down. The 2 boys didn't say anything, they just sat there for a little while. Harry was looking out the window, transfixed on the landscape that was flashing by. He had never been out of town before. Ron on the other hand, lived in the country and didn't find the landscape too interesting. After studying Harry for a minute or 2, he stood up and pulled out a small backpack and began digging through it. Harry forced his gaze away from the window and looked on with interest as Ron pulled out a variety of things from his bag, including a living rat.

"So you're really Harry Potter?" Ron asked when he noticed Harry was eyeing him.

"Shouldn't you already know that? I have been corresponded with your sister for a month, you know." Harry said with narrowed eyes.

The other boy twisted nervously in his seat.

"Yeah I know. I just have a hard time believing anyone would want to have a correspondance with my sister. She can be a real pain."

At the jab against Ginny, Harry felt a not too unfamiliar sensation rise in his chest, but he had never felt this toward anyone other than his Uncle Vernon. He felt angry. Really angry. Over the years, he had learned to ignore insults to himself and even ignore abusive behavior towards himself. But no one insulted his friend! Her own brother nonetheless!

"You should be happy you even have a sister! And for your information, Ginny is a wonderful person when you get to know her!" Harry hissed, his voice cold with anger. He didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to.

"How can you claim to know her? You met her for the first time one month ago! I have known her since she was born!" Ron exclaimed as his face became almost as red as his hair. If Harry had known Ron for a while, he would know this was a bad sign.

"Well, you don't see me calling her a pain, do you?!" Harry growled back.

Ron opened his mouth to retort, but closed it when he couldn't find a good answer for that. For a moment ,the two of them just glared at each other. Harry was about to tell Ron that if he didn't like him being friends with Ginny, then he could go get his own compartment, when the door slid open. In the doorway stood a blonde boy, flanked by two very large boys that reminded Harry of gorillas.

"Is it true? People down the train are claiming that Harry Potter is sitting in this compartment. I take it that's you?" the blonde boy said.

Harry eyed the cautiously, Ron temporarily forgotten. He got the impression that his boy was not to be trusted, even less than Ron. Not that Ron was not worth his trust, just that he needed to be knocked some sense into.

"So what if I am?" he answered with an edge to his voice.

The blonde boy eyed him for a moment, then gazed at Ron, then back again. His eyes narrowed in disgust.

"I see you are already assosciating yourself with the wrong kind of people, Potter. You will soon realize that some wizarding families are better than others. The Weasleys may be the bottom of the pit, but there are a lot other who are almost as bad. If you want, I can help you distinguish between them. I'm Malfoy by the way. Draco Malfoy."

Harry's eyes hardened when he heard Malfoy speak of the Weasleys like they were some kind of vermin. He hadn't said it out loud, but the way he looked at Ron and the tone of his voice told Harry all he needed to know about this boy.

"Get out! I think I can see which families are the bottom of the pit myself!" Harry growled at Malfoy.

Malfoy's eyes did the impossible and narrowed even further.

"You'll pay for that Potter. Crabbe, Goyle, C'mon!" he said.

The two baboons behind him cracked their knuckles and Ron jumped out of his seat. The red haired boy had obviously been dying to blow up at the newcomers ever since he had heard Malfoy's name, but had held back in order to see what Harry would do.

"What's going on here?" came a voice from outside the compartment.

All five boys froze halfway through whatever they had been trying to do: Harry on his way up from his seat, Ron with a pulled back fist, Malfoy with his hand inside his robes no doubt in search of his wand, and Crabbe and Goyle with their knuckles pushed together in an attempt to look threatening.

In stepped a tall boy, already wearing his Hogwarts robes. Harry would guess he was at least 2 years older than they were. The new boy had a seal on his robe that Harry recognised as the Hufflepuff crest and had dark hair and piercing gray eyes.

"What's it to you?" Malfoy's slimy voice answered the new boy.

The newcomer, after eyeing the scene in front of him, sighed and shook his head.

"I would advise you not to start trouble before you have even gotten to the school. You might not be able to lose any house points yet as you have yet to be sorted, but therefore your punishment would be much higher. And it's never good to get on the teachers' bad side from the start." he said, particularly glaring at Malfoy.

"Yeah, you would know all about being the teachers' pet, wouldn't you Diggory? My father have told me about how your shameless dad boasts about you whenever he gets the chance." Malfoy retorted but he did back down and, with a wave of his hand, got Crabbe and Goyle to do the same.

Diggory gave him a glare before stepping aside, prompting Malfoy to leave the compartment. For a moment, it looked like Malfoy was going to give him another nasty reply, but settled for a glare before he left. When Malfoy had gotten far away enough, Diggory turned to Harry and Ron.

"I'm sorry about that. The Malfoys are known to cause trouble wherever they stick their nose, but I didn't think Draco would do it before he even got to the school."

Harry, who had calmed down after taking a few deep breaths, sat back down in his seat and just shook his head. Without a second thought, he motioned for the new boy to enter if he would like. They way he had handled Malfoy was, in Harry's opinion, really impressive. Diggory complied with his invite and closed the door behind him as he sat down on one of the free seats. Ron, who seemed to have forgotten all about his and Harry's quarrel before the interuption, went back to digging through his bag before finally emerging with a pair of sandwhiches.

"Don't worry about it. We didn't exactly behave nice either." Harry answered as he stretched out in his seat, trying to losen some of the muscles that had tensed in preparation for the possible fight.

"Well, next time just ignore him. He won't bother you if he does not get the reaction he wants. My name is Cedric Diggory by the way." he said as he straightened out his Hogwarts robes.

Ron, who had just taken a bite of his sandwhich, looked up at the mention at the name.

"I'm Ron Weasley. You don't happen to be Amos Diggory's son, do you?" he asked.

Cedric gave him a smile. It hadn't really been hard to figure out that the red haired boy was a Weasley and the only Weasley's that had survived the last war was the family of Arthur Weasley. Cedric himself had met Arthus once or twice as his father and him had worked together on occasion.

"That's me. I take it you are Arthur Weasley's youngest son then?"

Ron nodded enthusiastically, obviously pleased that someone knew who he was, other than being a Weasley. Giving Ron a smile, Cedric turned towards Harry.

"My name is Harry. Harry Potter." Harry answered.

Cedric nodded thoughtfully. He didn't question the claim, neither did he go nuts like the people on the Leaky Cauldron, much to Harry's pleassure.

"I see. I heard rumors that Harry Potter was on the train, but I didn't really think anything of it. I would advice you to be careful with who you makes friends though Harry. Some people might want to take advantage of you for being famous and all." Cedric said.

Harry just nodded. He had been a little fearful about that. It still felt weird to think of himself as a celebrity. Cedric apparently, could see where his trail of thought were heading, as he quickly added.

"Don't worry about it too much. You will know them when you see them. Just show them your real self and after a while, the people who really care for you will stay while the others just leave you alone."

Once again, Harry found himself smiling at Cedric. The older boy, he had no doubt, was among the people he could trust. He gave off a secure impression, but not overly self righteous. Cedric gave him an encouraging smile before rising from his seat.

"I should get going. The lunch trolley will be here soon so I should get back to my own compartment. See you later, Harry, Ron."

And with that, Cedric left. For a few minutes, neither Ron nor Harry broke the silence that followed. The tension that had ruled before Malfoy's interruption had come back. After a little while, Harry decided he wanted to come clear.

"Hey Ron?"

"Hm?"

"Sorry I blew up at you before. I just got so angry when you called Ginny a pain. She really just wants things to be like they used to be between the two of you."

Ron looked like he had been slapped in the face. Had he really thought Ginny was bugging him because she wanted to be a pain? Could he really be that thick?

"But why didn't she just say so?"

Harry rolled his eyes. Yes, Ron could really be that thick.

"She tried to be nice but then you started to just shoo her off because you were so excited to go to Hogwarts." Harry hoped he could get through to Ron. Even though he had stopped shooing her off after he had seen her do the Bat-Bogey hex on the twins, he had still not been very appreciative of her being around him. It could of course be because he was afraid to get hexed, but still, he should just try and be nice to her instead.

Ron took a while to process the information, trying to think back to before last month when he supposedly shooed Ginny off. However, it didn't take him long to realize that Harry was absolutely right.

"I guess I could have been a little nicer to her."

Just then, the lunch trolley arrived. Harry got an idea when he saw the different sweets. Not to mention he just realized he was starving. Not wasting any time, Harry stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of galleons, causing Ron's eyes to widen. Soon, the free compartment seats were filled with all kinds of wizarding sweets.

"Why don't you send some of this to Ginny with an apology? I'm sure she would accept as long as you behave nicely to her next time you see her again." Harry suggested when he saw Ron eye a pack of Chocolate Frogs with a tempted look.

"Don't be ridiculus! It's your sweets! It wouldn't be from me!"

Oops, that was a sore spot. Ginny had mentioned once that her family wasn't very well off. Harry felt stupid for forgetting.

"Yeah, but the apology is what's important and that one will come from you, won't it? You can skip the sweets if you feel it's wrong, I'll just send them myself instead."

Ron seemed to think about it. His face was deep in thought as he looked from the sweets and then to Harry and then back again. While he was thinking, Harry was reading the info on a chocolate frog card of Dumbledore. Finally, Ron said:

"I'll sen her a note. You can send the sweets if you really want to."

Harry nodded, glad that Ron seemed to at least be willing to try and apologize to Ginny. With a wave of his hand, Hedwig's cage floated down from the shelf. Upon recieving an encouraging nod from Harry, Ron began digging through his bag again in search of a piece of parchment. After a little while, he had managed to scribble down a few lines. Harry had too written a short letter, "_Try some of my lunch! /Harry", _and attached both letters and a small package of Chocolate frogs and Bertie Bott's beans and sent it off. When Harry sat back down after closing the window, he found Ron looking at him in a whole new way.

"Thanks for looking out for Ginny. I know she really picked herself up after you began to write to her." Ron said with an appreciative look on his face.

Harry smirked. It would appear as if Ron tried to look like a better big brother. Then again, at least he tried.

"Don't mention it. That's what friends are for. Ginny did a lot for me too, you know."

Ron gave him a half smile and fiddled with his fingers for a second before extending his hand towards Harry.

"So... friends?"

Harry looked at the outstretched hand with a look of surprise and happiness. After the start they had gotten, he had thought Ron would never want to be friends with him. Would Ron turn out to be one of those who wanted to use him? No, then he wouldn't have argued with him from the start. Somehow, Harry knew that despite his many faults, Ron would be a good friend. Slowly, he reached out and accepted the hand offered to him.

"Friends." he said with a smile.

* * *

**A/N: **_So, that ends the longest chapter so far. I hope it won't become too hard to understand. It might be a little messy around the Malfoy Confrontation but I hope you can deal with it. If not, tell me so and I will try and fix it when I get the time. _

_So, well Harry is off to Hogwarts and I want to remind you all to go vote for what house you think he should be placed in. You will have 2 chapters to vote cause the next chapter will feature Ginny's first day(s) at home after the boys left for Hogwarts. I also want to point out that you got 2 votes to give. The voting you can find in my profile._

_Now to give some answers to reviews:_

**_RebeccaRoy:_**_ I know right. In canon, Bill was the one of the many Weasley brothers who looked out the most for Ginny when she was younger and also the brother she looked up to the most. I am glad I managed to give the same impression in this story! =)_

**_sisno2200:_**_ Yeah, she will need to get over her little hero worship but c'mon, she is a 10 year old girl. Don't worry, im not offended that you mentioned it. You are most correct but well, that's part of Ginny's character development. All characters will grow in my story (except maybe Dumbledore) and Ginny outgrowing her hero worship will be part of her growth. Besides, the whole Chamber of Secrets kind of relies on her hero worship making her insecure to confide so much of her thoughts into the diary. I couldn't really break down something that was so touching for their relationship in canon now, could I? :D_

_**anyeshabaner**: Haha, well it will keep some things from canon, but if it were all the same, then what would be the point of writing or reading it? ;) It will be some major differences and I am sure you will notice them when they come. There have already been a few huge differences made, not the least in this very chapter. =)_

**_marinka: _**_Thanks for the very encouraging words and thanks for pointing that out. I hadn't really thought about that until I read your review. As you can see here above, I have already taken meassures to take it into account =)_

_And to all you other awesome readers and reviewers: Thanks a lot for reading my story and for the encouraging words! Reviews is a good way to show your appreciation or voice your concerns so dont be shy. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the earlier and that you will give me some nice response! =) Take care until next time!_


	5. Ginny's New Life

**A/N: **_Hello everyone and welcome back to Harry Potter: Hidden Prodigy! Before we move on to this little chapter, I want to apologize if I didn't explain myself last AN. When I said that the poll for Harry's house would be open for 2 chapters, I meant that it would remain open until I wrote the second chapter after last chapter. Thus, this is the only chapter before I close the poll. I will keep the poll open for a little longer, but once I get to the point of the declaration of Harry's house, it will close. _

_And for those of you who are interested in the results, Gryffindor is currently in the lead with 11 votes (45%) followed by Ravenclaw at 8 votes (33%). Slytherin and Hufflepuff never really was in the race, too bad cause I like Hufflepuff. _

_On another note, as soon as I close the poll for Harry's house, I will open a poll where you can vote for who you want Harry to interact with and befriend during his first year at Hogwarts. Since there are ridiculusly many choices in this poll, you will have 8 votes to give. If you think there are any person I have missed that Harry could befriend, then please tell me and I will add that person to the poll. _

_Now, enough chit chat. Here comes Chapter Five!_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter. Or Ginny Weasley. Or Severus Snape. Or any of the other characters in here. Those, along with all other HP franchise belong to J.K Rowling.

* * *

**Chapter Five: **Ginny's new life

Seeing the train disappear behind the corner, Ginny stopped running. She felt the tears run down her cheeks. They were all gone now. Bill, Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron... and even Harry. She would be all alone now. She knew Harry would write of course. He had promised her he would and she couldn't see him break a promise like that. But aside from the occassional letter from Harry, there wouldn't be anything to do.

"Ginny? Come on, let's go home." her mother said as she walked up to her.

Ginny just hung her head and went with her mother. She didn't even bother to wipe away her tears.

Molly Weasley studied her daughter with worry. She rememered how lonely she herself had felt when her brothers had left for Hogwarts. It pained her to see Ginny go through the same thing, but she also remembered that when she had been sad at the beginning of her lonely year, she had snapped at her mother when she tried to be of comfort. The following row had been one she did not want to repeat and certainly did not want to subject her own daughter to. Therefore, it was with a heavy heart that Molly brought Ginny home that day.

As soon as they got back inside the Burrow, Ginny began walking towards the stairs. Her mother watched her go with a sad look on her face. She understood just how Ginny must be feeling right now.

"Ginny?"

At the mention of her name, Ginny turned around to look at her mother. The tears had stopped streaming down her face but the ones that had already fallen had dried on her cheeks, leaving tear marks.

"I know you might not want to be comforted right now, but when you do don't hesitate to talk to me. Ok?"

Ginny looked at her mother for a moment, her face unreadable. Molly didn't move. She wanted to make sure her daughter understood that she would be here for her, whenever she might need her.

"Thanks mom." she said at last before turning to walk up the stairs to her room.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Ginny rushed over to her bed and threw herself down into it. She hugged the pillow as the emotions she had bottled up during the ride home came down on her. Loneliness. She would be alone for almost a year. Her brothers were gone and she really didn't have many friends nearby. Well, Luna didn't live to far away, but that would be asking for trouble. Not that Luna wasn't nice, but you could not have a normal conversation with her and her mother thought the blonde girl was a bad influence on her. So ultimately, she was alone.

After a few minutes, she felt the tears come back. Her eyes were already red from crying at the station so the new tears left a stinging feeling in her eyes. Why? Why was she always the one left behind? Why did she have to be the youngest?

She didn't know how long she just lay there, letting her heart out, but sometime a while after she had stopped crying she was alerted by a knocking on her window. Drying her tears with her sleeve, she looked up and thought her might jump out of her chest. Hedwig?

Seeing Harry's owl outside her window, Ginny was quickly on her feet and darted across the room to let Hedwig inside. The snow white owl flew inside and landed in her usual spot, at the back of the chair by Ginny's desk. Ginny frowned when she noticed that there were 2 notes attached to Hedwig's leg, along with a small package of some sort. Making her way over and detaching the package and notes, Ginny recognized the barely readable handwriting on one of the notes. Why would her brother be writing to her?

_Hey Ginny_

_I'm sorry about earlier this summer. I didn't realize that I was pushing you away. I guess I kind of got caught up in all of the excitement about going to Hogwarts and didn't stop to think how it might be affecting you. Don't ask me how, but Harry managed to knock some sense into me. I hope you can fogive me and that we'll be alright when I get home?_

_Ron_

Reading it over a second time, Ginny frowned. Harry had managed to knock some sense into Ron? And she wasn't even angry with Ron anymore. He had been alright the last month of summer. Sure it had not been like it used to be, but at least he hadn't been a git. She idly felt herself wondering what Harry could have said or done to get him to understand. Not even their parents had managed to get him to understand.

Her sorrow from being left alone temporarily forgotten, Ginny reached over to the second note, which held a by now all too familiar handwriting. The note was short and simple as it only consisted of a single sentance:

_Try some of my lunch! /Harry_

Frowning over the note, Ginny reached over and opened the small box. Without looking, she reached inside and felt a much smaller package of some sort. Once she pulled it out, she saw that it was a pack of Chocolate frogs. Her eyes widening, she turned the bigger box upside down and emptied it all out. There were 4 more chocolate frog packs inside and 2 packs of "Bertie Botts beans in every flavour". Looking at the sweets Harry had sent her, she felt the sadness in her heart wear off a little. He still thought of her at all times. Even now, when he had left for Hogwarts, something he had been dreaming of since he was born, he still thought about her, cared for her.

Ginny felt her eyes grow wet again, but this time it wasn't the sadness from earlier that filled her up. She wasn't forgotten. Harry still did everything he could to cheer her up, just like he had done during the summer. And like Harry had said during the summer, for every day that passed, the closer the day when she got to go with him to Hogwarts came. She was closer to Hogwarts than she had ever been before. For every day that passed, the closer Harry and her brothers came to coming home.

Feeling remarkably better than she had just a few mintues earlier, Ginny stood up and looked at the clock. It was lunchtime. Giving Hedwig a pat on the head and recieving an appreciative hoot in return, Ginny made her way down to the kitchen to get something to eat. When she entered, her mother was standing by the sink, peeling some carrots.

"Hey mom, what's for lunch?" she asked as she sat down by the table.

Not having noticed when Ginny entered, Molly jumed when she heard her daughter's voice.

"Ginny! I didn't hear you come in." she said as she spun around on her heels to face the small redhaired girl.

Ginny grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. Her mother looked shocked at the change in her daughter's behavior, compared to just a few hours ago. Well, perhaps that wasn't so strange. There was quite a bit of difference in her behavior after all.

"Oh, and do we still have some of those owl treats? I think Hedwig is hungry."

Molly frowned at the mention of Harry's owl. She had been sure Hedwig had been with Harry at the station.

"Harry's already sent you a letter?"

"Mmhm!" Ginny said with a content smile. She went on to tell her mother about the notes Harry and Ron had sent her. She conviniently forgot to mention the package with wizarding sweets. When she was done, her mother had an approving look on her face.

"Well, I find myself liking Harry more and more for every day that passes. Perhaps we should invite him over for summer next year?"

Ginny nodded her head enthusiastically. That sounded like an awesome plan!

"Why not over christmas too?" Ginny asked excitedly. Come to think of it, all her brothers could come home during christmas break if someone could just persuade them. Why didn't she think of that before?

"I'm afraid that won't work out." her mother said, a hint of nervousity in her voice for her daughter's reaction to these news. "I got an owl from Charlie yesterday when you had all gone to bed. He is inviting us all to Romania over christmas."

It took a few seconds for Ginny to process what her mother had said. She had opened her mouth to whine about Harry not being able to come over when the words "Charlie", "Invite" and "Romania" had registered in her mind and her angry glare turned into a look of happiness.

"We get to go see Charlie? Yay! Do I get to pat the dragons?" she squeled and jumped out of her seat. Suddenly, all thoughts of lunch were forgotten. She had to tell this to Harry! She would get to see real dragons!

Without waiting for her mother to answer, she sprinted back up to her room. Left behind was a stunned Molly Weasley. After getting over her shock at Ginny's enthusiastic respons, she stood up and went back to the kitchen sink. She smiled as she thought about the change in her daughter over the last month. Before she had met Harry, Ginny had become withdrawn from the rest of the family, no doubt because she felt left out. Somehow, Harry had managed to get her out of the shell she had hid inside. Now, Ginny appeared to be almost back to her normal, cheery self. Harry seemed to bring out the best in Ginny and for that she was grateful, but at the same time it was starting to get a little worrying. Girls at Ginny's age... well, they tended to have some really idealized fantasies about certain boys. She knew that first hand. She had been dreaming of fairy tale princes at that age too. The problem was... Harry was a fairy tale, litterally! And on top of that, one that Ginny was particularly fascinated by. Seeing as she now knew Harry personally... it wouldn't sound too farfetched for her daughter to start to dream about a very idealized future with her "prince".

And if it came to that, Molly feared that Harry would not return Ginny's feelings. Harry was an 11 year old boy, he didn't have any interest in things like that. And Ginny, well while she might think it was true love she was way too young to have real feelings like that. But real or not, if Harry didn't return her feelings, there was a risk that their friendship might be ruined and if that happened... well, she really didn't want to think about what it would do to Ginny.

**-:-:-:-**

While Molly Weasley was worrying about her daughter and Ginny was writing her reply to Harry about her trip to Romania, Harry was doing his best to avoid drawing attention to himself as he made his way back from a visit to the train's lavatory. He had noticed on the way _to _the lavatory that once people got a look at the scar on his forehead, they began staring at him and whispering. Despite being jealous of Dudley for being a popular kid, Harry had never been one to like unnescesary attention. The relief when he had reached the door to the lavatory had been enourmous. Now he just needed to make it back to his and Ron's compartment. He was just outside when he heard voices from inside his compartment, Ron's voice and a girl's.

"I already told him that I haven't seen his bloody toad!" Ron's voice sounded.

"Well, you could still try and talk to other people in a civil way!" the girl's voice sounded accusingly.

Shaking his head and sighing, Harry walked over to his door and opened it fully, wondering if Ron always managed to get himself into arguments.

"What's going on here?" he asked as he entered.

Ron was sitting at his place, apparently half way through opening another pack of Chocolate frogs. Standing in the middle of the compartment was a girl with bushy brown hair who was glaring at Ron intently. When Harry entered, she looked up at him.

"Oh, nothing. I was just trying to teach this prat some manners." she said with an annoyed nod in Ron's direction.

The red haired boy looked offended and lifted his hands in an effort to look innocent.

"She came busting in here and asked for Neville's toad and I just said we already told Neville we hadn't seen his bloody toad!" Ron exclaimed while glaring at the girl.

Groaning inwardly at Ron's stubborness, Harry felt the need to break this up before it got any worse. It didn't help that the girl had once again opened her mouth to bite down on Ron.

"You know Ron, when you use the word "bloody", it's no wonder people might take it in an insulting way." he said.

Looking at Ron's angry face when he turned away from him, Harry couldn't help but think about just how different Ron was from his sister. Sure, from what he knew and what she had told him in her letters, Ginny too could have quite a nasty temper when provoked but he couldn't imagine Ginny's innocent face taking on such an sulky look like Ron's just did. Meanwhile, the girl was smiling and look in Ron's direction with a look of superiority.

"See? Even..." she said before turning to Harry with a questioning look. Picking up on what she wanted, Harry answered:

"Harry. My name is Harry."

He was very careful not to mention his last name. The name Harry wasn't that unusual among boys his age so as long as he didn't say "Potter" in the same sentence, he could probably pass off as a nomal boy here.

"Right. Even Harry agrees with me! Perhaps you should listen to your friend." the bushy haired girl said as she looked back at Ron who was still stubbornly looking out the window.

When Ron didn't give an answer, Harry took that as a sign it was calming down and took his seat again. The girl however, didn't move and kept on glaring at Ron. Harry groaned as he realized she was waiting for an apology. And if it taken Ron an entire summer and a nasty argument to apologize to his own sister for something he obviously had done wrong, then there wasn't much hope that he would apologize to a complete stranger when he didn't feel he had done anything wrong. Just when he was about to suggest to the girl that she sit down to wait for the apology, the door to their compartment slid open once again.

"Uhm, Hermione. I found Trevor. Thanks for helping me looking, but you can go back to your own compartment now." said the boy in the doorway, who had introduced himself as Neville Longbottom when he had visited here earlier looking for his toad.

However the girl, who had now been identified as Hermione, didn't budge from her spot. She briefly cast a glance at Neville and gave him a smile before turning back to Ron.

"Good that you found him, but I won't leave this compartment until this git apologizes." she said firmly, her eyes narrowed to watch for Ron's reaction. She was obviuosly trying to provoke him. And what was worse, it seemed to have worked.

Without warning, Ron flew out of his seat and waved his arms in a frustrated gesture, causing a pack of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans to fall over and spread its content over the floor.

"What am I supposed to apologize for? I didn't do anything!" he bit off.

Hermione bit her jaws tightly together to keep herself from screaming out her frustration. Behind her, Neville looked terrified at the mess he had found himself in. Feeling like he already got enough attention as it was without people coming by their compartment to check why there was screaming going on in here, Harry motioned for Neville to enter and close the door behind him.

Looking from Harry, to the two people bickering in rising voices, then back to Harry again, Neville closed the door and managed to sneak by Hermione to sit in the seat just beside Harry's. After several mintues of arguing back and forth between the two standing people in the compartment, Harry jumped to his feet as well, intending to end it.

"Enough! Ron, I don't know exactly what you said when Hermione came asking for Trevor, but it clearly upset her and you should apologize. And Hermione, if you only wanted an apology, then why in the world did you push to challenge him?"

Taking a moment to let his words sink in, both Ron and Hermione tore their looks away from each other with angry scowls plastered upon their faces. After a few moments, Harry felt fairly certain they wouldn't start arguing again if not one of them tempted the other. Satisfied that he at least had managed to shut them up, he sat back down and turned towards the round faced boy holding a toad.

"So Neville, what house do you think you will get sorted into?"

Upon being spoken to, Neville seemed to jump in his seat, almost losing Trevor in the process. After he settled down again, the boy began to fumble with the toad in his hands before finally getting a grip on it and answering.

"Um, well I'm not really sure. I'm kind of surprised I even got picked to come. I didn't really show any signs of magic, except one time when my uncle..." he trailed off and Harry got the impression that he felt uncomfortable talking about it. Not wanting to push him into something he didn't want to talk about, Harry was just about to ask Ron the same question when Hermione blurted out:

"Well, I hope I will get sorted into Gryffindor! It sounds like the best among the houses and rumor has it that Professor Dumbledore himself once went to Hogwarts and was sorted into Gryffindor! What about you, Harry?"

She said this very fast and it took Harry a moment to fully make out all she had said. While he thought about how to answer her, he noticed Ron, despite still looking to be in a bad mood, had peeked up when Hermione had asked what house Harry wanted to be sorted into.

"Well, I'm not really sure. Uncle Sev told me that my parents were in Gryffindor but he himself was in Slytherin so I guess neither of those two would be a disappointment." he said as he tried to think up what he knew about the houses.

From what he had read in _Hogwarts, A History_ and what Uncle Sev had told him, each of the four houses were named after one of the school's four founders and all four of the founders had one trait that personified them specifically. These traits were usually what was taken into account when the sorting was done and the student being sorted often, if not always, had the same trait as the founder of their house. Gryffindor represented courage and bravery, Hufflepuff represented loyalty, Ravenclaw represented intelligence and cleverness and Slytherin represented ambition.

"You will be satisfied being placed in Slytherin?" Ron said with shock evident in his voice. He even forgot to be angry. "Everyone knows that what makes a Slytherin is nastiness and temptation of dark magic!"

Harry shook his head.

"However, that's not true Ron. Uncle Al told me that the trait that makes a Slytherin is ambition, not dark magic. However, being overly ambitious is an easy road to be tempted by dark magic. That's why so many dark wizards have been in Slytherin." he said. Then, for good meassure, he added: "Voldemort was in Slytherin."

Upon the mention of the dark lord, Neville hiccupped beside him and Ron flinched. Hermione didn't flinch or hiccupp, but her face took on a serious look and she stared at Harry as if he had just grown a second head. Harry sighed at the other's reaction to the name. He had never really understood why wizards were afraid to speak his name. It's not like ti would summon him here, back in full power and besides, Uncle Al told him not to fear the name.

"You mean... You-Know-Who have gone to Hogwarts? There was no mention of that in the books I read about him." Hermione whispered, still a little shocked at hearing his name being used so casually. She had read a lot about him, fascinated by the mystery surrounding his rise to power. He had seemed to come out of nowhere. Until he showed up, Dumbledore had been the strongest wizard alive, no one questioned it. Grindewald had been a contender but after Dumbledore defeated him, there was no doubt that he was the strongest. But then Voldemort showed up, seemingly out of nowhere, with power that could rival Dumbledore's or perhaps even outmatch him. The things he had done was terrible of course, but it didn't make his mysterious background any less intriguing to someone like Hermione.

"Yes he has, a long time ago. Uncle Al apparently taught him personally in Transfiguration."

Hearing this, Hermione's eyes widened. Ron looked at him as if he had gone barking mad and Neville seemed to be too shocked to even give off any kind of reaction. For a few minutes, the four occupants in the compartment didn't say a word and Harry began to grow uncomfortable under the others' gazes. When he felt he had enough, Harry decided to break the silence.

"Alright, let's leave that topic. I don't really know much about him, I grew up in a muggle household so I really am as good as a muggle born." Harry said, desperately wanting the try and drive the conversation onto more comfortable grounds.

Seeing that his friend was growing a bit uncomfortable and remembering that Harry had helped him at least apologize to his sister for being a rude git, Ron decided to provide Harry with a lifeline.

"Well, all Weasleys have been in Gryffindor for several generations so I guess that's where I'll be going. I wouldn't even want to think about the awkwardness if I was placed in another house." he was about to add "least of all Slytherin", but thought better of it as Slytherin had been the reason they had slipped into uncomfortable waters for Harry in the first place.

Meeting his friend's eyes, Harry gave Ron a grateful look. Ron just gave him a smile and a look that said "Now we're even". Grinning, Harry turned back to Hermione and Neville. Hermione was glancing at Ron with a curious look.

"Oh, so you are from an old wizarding family then?" she asked with interest.

Ron's ears reddened a little at being the center of attention, but he immediately went on to tell Hermione about his family and their history. Hermione listened with interest and would ask questions once in a while if there was something she didn't understand. Harry caught Neville eye and both boys shared a silent agreement about the weirdness of their two new friends. The way they were now discussing Ron's family and old wizarding families in general, one would think their argument just a few minutes back had never happened. Casting a sideway glance at them, Harry smirked. Whenether they all ended up in different houses or not, this was going to be one interesting year.

**-:-:-:-**

Back at The Burrow, Ginny had just finished her lunch. After she had written her reply to Harry, she had ultimately decided that Hedwig deserved some rest and held off on sending the letter. It wouldn't hurt to wait a few hours and give Hedwig time to recover from what must have been a hasty travel as she had made it here from the train in record time. With nothing else to do, Ginny headed out into the garden to take a walk. It was a beautiful day outside after all. There was a small pond in one corner of the garden, adjacent to an oak tree that was nicely standing over the pond and covering it in shadows. Feeling the hot late summer air warm her skin, Ginny decided to head over to the pond.

Relaxing in the cool sensation from entering the shadowed area, Ginny sat down and looked out over the small pond. When she was younger, she used to run over here to sit and watch the frogs and other amphibians play in the water. She remembered the time when Fred ang George had tricked her into believing that if she tied planks to her feet, she would be able to walk on the water. It hadn't worked of course and she had fallen straight through the surface when she tried.

Thinking about those times made a slight feeling of sadness rise in her chest again, but it she managed to not let it bother her. It was like Harry had said, soon she would be going too. For every day that passed, she got closer to Hogwarts than she had ever been before. She was certain she would get her letter. After all, she had already performed magic with her brother's wand (though her mother really didn't need to know that) and during that meal when she had blown up at Ron, she had felt a strange rush of energy run through her body when the stew exploded. It wasn't like when she just got angry. Of course, she would feel a rush of energy then as well, but this had been different. No doubt, the exploding stew had been the work of her accidental magic.

Speaking of underage magic... how could she have forgotten Harry could use his underage magic at will? Thinking back to the train station, she felt really stupid that she had forgotten. She hadn't really thought that much about it since they had first met in Diagon Alley, but still it shouldn't have slipped her mind like that. It wasn't like it was casual for young wizards to be able to control their underage magic.

"..._but I wonder if that many have actually tried?" _Harry's voice came floating to her.

She frowned as she looked out over the pond with a thoughtful look on her face. She knew for certain she hadn't tried to use her magic at will. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Perhaps he was right. Perhaps the reason so few had ever learnt to control their underage magic was because no one gave it a serious try. After all, there must have been a time before wands were invented, how did people perform magic back then?

"_Does that mean I can do it too if I just try hard enough?"_ she thought.

Harry had never told her how long it had taken him to learn to control his underage magic, they hadn't really talked about it since that first day. But well, it's not like she had anything else to do anyway. Even if she failed, it would still make time pass. And god knew she needed to pass her time. So without further ado, Ginny got up and walked back towards the house. She needed to make up plans for how to do this. How had Harry done it? He had said he had trained... So he probably practiced lifting things without touching them. Levitation was the only underage magic she had seen him do and so, that was the logical choice for her to try as she knew it was possible to control somehow. So if that was the case, she needed something to try and lift. Did it matter how heavy the object was? She ahd seen Harry lift an ice cream cone, a cup filled with plastic spoons and a Hogwarts trunk filled with stuff. There was quite some difference in weight between the first two and the last one.

Just as she reached the house, she noticed her mother was outside feeding the chickens. Perhaps she would know how to go at this?

"Mom?" Ginny tried to ger her attention.

Her mother looked up from her current duty and smiled when she saw her daughter walking towards her.

"Ginny, what's up?" she asked as she dropped the last piece of bread she had been using to feed the chickens.

Immediately after the bread touched the ground, the small yellow featherballs came flying at it, competing for domintation and the biggest piece they could get. Ginny chuckled as she eyed them for a moment, before turning to her mom.

"Can I ask you a question?" she asked, already knowing the answer but still, it never hurt to be polite in these situations.

"Of course sweetie." her mother answered.

Ginny felt the urge to pull a grimace at the term "sweetie", but fought down the urge as she didn't want to start arguing with her mother about it. Especially not now when she needed her help. She was just about to ask, when she realized she wasn't even sure what it was she needed help for. Well, it felt obvious what she wanted help to do, but what was it she was asking for, really?

"Uhm, well I was just thinking about something. You see, Harry can control his underage magic so I was wondering if maybe I could learn it too?" as soon as she said it, Ginny felt her cheeks heat up. What kind of quesiton was that? It didn't even reflect on what she needed help with!

However, her mother seemed to have only picked up certain parts of it anyway. As Ginny waited for an answer, her mother frowned and a look of utter surprise got plastered on her face.

"Harry can control his underage magic? But that's not possible!" she said, clearly shocked at this revelation.

Ginny felt a little hurt that her mother didn't believe her, but she let it slip. After all, she hadn't believed her own eyes the first time she had seen it either.

"But it's true! I've seen it! He can move things without touching them! He even lifted his Hogwarts trunk without touching it!" she said, her voice raised. She hadn't meant to shout but denial and disbelief of her claim had began pushing her temper, which had already been slightly moved by the term "sweetie".

Her mother looked down on her with a mixed look. She seemed to want to defuse her belief that it was possible to control underage magic, but didn't know how to do it without hurting her or making her angry. And if Ginny had seen Harry perform it, then how could she deny that it was possible? And it didn't help that Ginny was giving her the pleading puppy eyes. That trick, along with Ginny's brown, curious and innocent eyes, were deadly. Finally, she gave in and sighed.

"Well, I guess if you have seen Harry do it,then it's possible. But do you really think you can do it? Harry probably trained for very long before he learned." she said, hoping the promise of a big workload would scare off her daughter. Unfortunately for her, it had the opposite effect.

Ginny felt her chest bubbling with excitement at her mother's words. Of course it had taken Harry a great deal of effort and time to learn, otherwise all wizarding children would be able to do it without fail. She had already decided that no matter what, she wanted to learn how to control her underage magic. Surely, Harry would be so proud, not to mention her parents once they found out she could do it.

"I'm sure it took him lots of hours to practice, but I got time to do that too! It's not like I got anything else important to do right now, is there?" she squeled out in excitement.

Her mother looked down on her with a scowl on her face. Suddenly, Ginny froze up and looked up at her mother hesistantly. Had she said something wrong?

"So, when I try to teach you about magical household, then you have these really important things to do and have to run of to who knows where, but when Harry shows off his underage magic, you suddenly have all the time in the world to practice?" she said with a firm look on her face.

Ginny finally gave in a let a grimace run over her face. The mention of housework didn't sit well with her. Her mother had tried to teach her about how to run a magical household and have her watch while she performed cooking spells and cleaning spells. Of course, she never got to actually try any of the spells and that made it even more boring. If she had gotten to actually try the spells, it might have been another story, but just watching and learning the theory was so boring Ginny always tried to find an excuse to sneak away.

"Ehm, well..." she tried but her mother cut her off with a friendly smile, showing she meant no harm.

"How about this? You try to take my lectures about household magic seriously and I try to help you with your underage magic?"

Hearing her mother willngly compromise about something made Ginny stop and frown. Her mother never offered a compromise in any matter, not even with her dad. Why would she offer it now of all times? Was it really that important to her that she learnt these household spells?

"Uhm, that sounds fair enough. I guess. But mom?" she asked as she got an idea.

Her mother gave her a nod, to show that she was listening. Ginny tried to look innocent but it was a losing battle.

"Does this mean I get to actually try the household spells? I mean, if you are already going to help me with using magic, then why can't I learn how to use the spells you're trying to teach me?" she asked.

Her mother gave a look of uncertainty and seemed to stumble on her words. She had obviously already figured this might be a reaction and from the looks of it, it wasn't one she had been hoping for. Ginny had to bite her jaws tightly together to keep from laughing at her mother's expression. She looked like a caged animal.

"Well, it's not that simple Ginny. You see, underage magic isn't forbidden by the law while the teaching of real magic is strictly illegal."

It was a fair enough argument for her mother's case, but Ginny wasn't going to back down.

"Oh please. No one will know. And if I use your wand, then they can't prove it was me who did it, can they? Even if they try to investigate it, the ministry can only find out _what_ _spell_ have been used, not who the caster is. And you use those spells all the time anyway so it's really suspicious in any way." she said, fixing her mother with the best imitation of her own stern look she could.

Her mother seemed to be at a loss of words. She stared at Ginny as if she had suddenly turned blue or her hair had suddenly been set on fire.

"...You... how?...who told you this?" she managed to get out in her shocked stated.

Ginny tried to look as innocent as she could when she answered.

"Fred ang George mentioned it once and Percy explained it to me in detail when I asked. He seemed very happy that I was showing interest in some kind of ministry business."

Taking in what her daughter had said, Mrs Weasley's face turned into a scowl and she began mumbling about "irresposnible brothers" and "3 howlers". Ginny waited patiently, feeling a little nervous about her mother's reaction. She wasn't so sure if that last part had been so smart to say, it had just slipped out of her before she had the chance to think it over properly.

Upon realizing that her daughter still waited for an answer, Mrs Weasley turned back towards Ginny with a serious look on her face.

"If you do well in learning about the spells, I might let you try them once in a while, ok?"

Feeling relieved that they had come to an agreement, Ginny nodded her head excitedly. Not wanting to waste any time, she went inside the house to try and find something to levitate. Her mother looked after her with mixed emotions. Her daughter was growing up. Ginny had actually accepted a compromise, which was unusual in itself. But on top of that, she had really negotiated the matter to try and find a solution that suited them both. Once again, she found herself thinking about the effect Harry seemed to have on the youngest of her children. It truly was... wonderful to see Ginny so lively again.

As the days past at The Burrow, the mother and daughter settled into a routine. At 10 o'clock, Molly would wake Ginny up if she wasn't already awake and they would have breakfast together. Ginny would then spend the time up until lunch doing whatever she felt like, sometimes throwing in some extra training on her underage magic and sometimes just take the time to relax. When it was nearing lunchtime, Ginny would go help her mother with lunch and learn about the cooking spells in the process. After lunch, Molly spent one hour helping ehr daughter in whatever way she could when it came to the underage magic before returning to her household and leaving Ginny to practice in her own way. Ginny would alter between reading about basic magic and underage magic and try to get a feel for how it was to use underage magic, sometimes trying to force it out by doing something she really shouldn't. It was a tiring routine, but Ginny didn't give up or even falter a bit. Harry's letters would be the sole thing that could distract her from her work on trying to control her magic. And after a while, she realized she didn't miss her brothers as much a she thought she would. Because it really was like Harry had said: for each day that passed, the closer she got to Hogwarts.

* * *

**A/N:**_ So there we have another chapter! Not very exciting but I find I actually enjoyed writing this chapter. Not that I usually don't but it just made me happy imagining the scenes with Ginny at the end. She would look so cute!_

_And here we go with some reviews:_

**_MaeSilverspaws1:_**_ Yup, Draco is a spoiled prat. But that doesn't mean he will be all junior Death Eater. I'm still not entirerly sure what I wanna do with him, but I don't think I will make him the school junior Voldemort like some stories I've read._

**_marinka_**_ and **RebeccaRoy: **Yeah, I decided to introduce Cedric early on here because he gave me the impression of being one to look out for younger students and was also one of the few who didn't think anything of Harry's fame. And yes, the doors to all houses are open for Harry. Just because a person possesses the trait of a specific house doesn't mean it is the most dominant trait for him. I mean, then Hermione would be in Ravenclaw, Harry would be in Hufflepuff and Ron... well I don't know about him but the point is that you can still have traits from all houses. _

**_emarald777:_**_ As was mentioned in the chapter, Harry won't feel bad for being placed in Slytherin, however Snape have told him to try and stay away from there if he can. Also, since he is a different person to a certain extent this time, chances are that he wont even be considered for Slytherin since his trait of being ambitios might get overshadowed by other traits that wasn't as accurate in canon._

**_mdauben:_**_ I'm glad you came across my story! Always nice with reviews and readers. I'm glad I didn't make Harry too different from canon. I try to at least keep the outlinings from canon, though Harry and probably other main characters will be a little different. The differences will mainly be due to events that happens in different ways or an event that didn't occur in canon. _

_Thanks to all who reads and enjoys my story! And an extra big thanks to all who reviews! If you got anything you are curious about or just want to tell me I'm doing good with the story, don't feel shy to review or PM me! Now, the next chapter will contain the sorting ceremony! Hope you guys look forward to it as much as I do! This is , signing out for now! =)_


	6. First day at school

**A/N: **_Heelloooo everyone! Here we go with the chapter we have been looking forward to! Harry's sorting! I won't ruin the surprise here, but if you ever checked the poll before it closed, you should know which house merged victorious. _

_I am still open to learn about your suggestions for spells to use. I now have a site for checking the already existing spells, but noting like a little home made stuff, right? So if you got an idea for a spell, please PM me or tell me in a review! _

_And even if you don't have a spell to give me, I still like reviews and there are some stuff in here you should have an opinion about so try to leave one to let me know what you think! I can't make the story better if you don't help me by telling me what you would like to add or change!_

_I have answered a few reviews at the bottom. And for those of you who haven't gotten yours answered there, thanks for leaving a review. They are what's keeping me going!_

_Now, I know you all are so excited to see what house Harry gets sorted into so without further ado, here comes chapter 6!_

**Disclaimer:** I still haven't gotten ahold of the rights to Harry Potter franchise. I am hoping to get it as a christmas gift but my hopes aren't very high...

* * *

**Chapter Six: **First Day at School

Harry felt extremely nervous as he looked up at the large wooden doors that led into the Great hall of Hogwarts. They had arrived at the magical school just a few minutes ago, after exiting the train and being led by a very large man named Rubeus Hagrid down to the lake that was located on the school grounds. Apparently, it was a tradition that first year students entered Hogwarts by crossing the lake and through a cave that led up into the castle. Once they were inside the castle, they had been welcomed by the Deputy Headmistress, Professor Minerva McGonagall. After explaining some basic rules and other important things about the school and the houses, she had left them by the doors to wait to be summoned inside.

Which led them to the situation at hand. Harry didn't know why he felt so nervous, but perhaps it was simply the enourmous impact this event would have on the rest of his life. Depending on what house he was sorted into, he would probably go through his school years in different ways, getting different friends and it might perhaps even affect how much he studied and the amount he studied would affect what grades he got and the grades he got would affect what jobs he could get once he left and what he did once he left would...AAGH! It was just so damn much importance to these minutes that were soon to come! Why was he even thinking that far ahead? Why couldn't he just focus on getting past this monumental event?

To his right, Ron appeared to be doing a little better than him. He was leaning against the wall with a bored expression on his face, not even taking a look around. Neville was further down the group of students, looking as nervous as Harry felt. Hermione was standing a few steps to Harry's left, rabbling spells she knew and what good they might be for whatever they were supposed to do for their sorting. Malfoy was standing with his goons to the side, looking as calm as always, with a look of superiority on his face, obviously thinking he was better than all the other students, who appeared at least a little nervous.

Just as Harry took a deep breath to try and calm his beating heart, which somehow echoed through his head, Professor McGonagall stepped through the door and signaled for them to enter. Feeling like his chest had been turned outside in and inside out, Harry followed along with the rest of the first years. The great hall was just like Uncle Sev had described it. There were four large tables, one for each house, and then there was the staff's table by the end of the room, looking out over the hall. The ceiling reflected the sky outside and at the moment, it showed a very clear nightsky, filled with stars. He thought he heard Hermione comment on having read about the ceiling in _Hogwarts, A History_ somewhere behind him, but didn't really care. His gaze was locked at the staff table, particularly on a black haired young man, sitting to the left of the headmaster. Uncle Sev, eh... Professor Snape was looking at Harry with a smile, giving him an encouring nod as their eyes locked. Feeling a little better about being the center of attention, Harry cast a glance at Professor Dumbledore who winked at him and nodded towards Professor McGonagall, as if to indicate that Harry should pay attention rather than look around. He looked away just as McGonagall placed the sorting hat on its little chair. After a few seconds, the sorting hat began singing in the new school year, but Harry didn't listen to it. He just revered in the feeling of finally being here. He had wanted to be here for so long and now he was finally here.

"When I call your name, you will come forth and put on the sorting hat to be sorted into your house." Professor McGonagall explained.

"Abbott, Hannah."

A small girl with blonde pigtails nervously strodded forwards. She sat down on the chair and Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head. For a moment, not a sound was made as the entire hall sat, all their attention on Hannah. Then, after several seconds, the hat somehow shouted:

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Hannah seemed to let go of a breath she had been holding as McGonagall removed the hat from her head and she headed over to join her new housemates by the Hufflepuff table, which had burst into applaudes upon the sorting hat's declaration. McGonagall kept on giving names, and the said student would go forth, sit down and be sorted by the hat. After a little while, a certain name caught Harry's attention.

"Granger, Hermione."

Up until then, he hadn't really thought about the fact that he didn't know Hermione's surname. Well, now he knew. Hermione however, took a little longer to get sorted than those who had been sorted before her. The fastest to be sorted had been "Crabbe, Vincent", one of Malfoy's goons, who had been placed in Slytherin almost the same moment the hat had touched his head. Finally, after almost an entire minute, the hat declared:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The red and golden table erupted into applauds. So far, only Lavender Brown and Seamus Finnigan had been declared new Gryffindors. Beside him, Ron groaned as Hermione took off the hat, placed it respectfully back on the chair and walked over to sit next to Percy. The sorting continued, with the next name of Harry's interest to be called was:

"Longbottom, Neville."

If Hermione had taken a good amount of time to be sorted, it was nothing compared to Neville. Harry could almost see the poor boy tremble as the hat took its time to choose. However, after who knows how long, the hat finally settled on:

"GRYFFINDOR!"

Harry began feeling nervous the closer to "P" they came. Now, two of his friends from the train had been placed in Gryffindor and if Ron was as much a Weasley as he looked, then he too would be placed in Gryffindor. Harry also noted that Gryffindor was the house that had gained the fewest new students this year so far, by far. They only had 4 new students: Lavender, Seamus, Hermione and Neville. The Slytherins had gotten Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Millicent Bulstrode and a few others. Hufflepuff had so far gained Hannah Abbott, Susan Bones, Ernie MacMillian, Justin Finch-Fletchley and another bunch of students, as the most growing house this night. Ravenclaw had also had their share of students, amongst others Anthony Goldstein, Terry Boot and Mandy Brocklehurst.

As Professor McGonagall reached "P" on the list, Harry was positive he was going to faint. He wasn't ready for this! He watched in horror as Pansy Parkinson got sorted into Slytherin and two twin sister, Parvati and Padma Patil, got sorted into Gryffindor and Ravenclaw respectively. And then...

"Potter, Harry!"

As soon as she had said it, the entire hall burst out into mumbles and whispers. They were whispering about Harry Potter. _That_ Harry Potter. The boy who lived. Harry felt like he was going to collapse from all the stares on him as he made his way to the chair and sat down. He felt Professor McGonagall place the hat on his head as he looked out over the hall, gulping with nervousity.

"_Hmm, well this was hard. Really hard."_ Someone whispered in his ear. He was just about to turn around and look when he realized it was the hat who was talking to him. He idly wondered if the others in the hall would be able to hear it, but thought better of it as he remembered he hadn't been able to hear when the hat spoke to the others. Sighing with relief, he returned his focus to what the hat was saying.

"_I see a great deal of potential, there's no doubt about that. Here, we got true courage... and intelligence that would make the most brilliant Ravenclaw pale in comparison. You are very loyal, oh yes very loyal indeed, to those you regard as friends. And you have a will to prove yourself. Soo, where should we place you, Mr Potter? Any house would fit you in their own way. I must say you certainly are a unique person. So where should we place you?"_

"_Uhm, might I make a suggestion?" _Harry thought, hoping the hat could hear him. Apparently it could.

"_Oh?"_

Harry took a moment to decide how to put this. He didn't want to sound rude in any way. Even if it was a hat... well it could never hurt to be polite.

"_Well, so far two of my friends have been placed in Gryffindor and my other friend is probably going to end up there too, because his family have been Gryffindors for generations. Do you think I would fit good in Gryffindor? My parents were in that house."_

For a moment, the hat didn't say anything. Harry got the impression it was searching through his thoughts to try and confirm his claims. His suspicion was confirmed a few seconds later.

"_Ah yes, another Weasley eh? Well, I must say I do agree with his predicament. And I see, of course. You're the son of Lily Evans and James Potter? I've seen few Gryffindors as true to their house as them. I am inclined to agree that you would do fine in that house. Very well then... GRYFFINDOR!"_

The hat shouted the last word out loud, causing the hall to erupt into applaudes. Even the other tables were applauding. Harry felt relief course through him as he took off the hat and ran over towards teh Gryffindor table. The twins had rose from their seats and were chanting some kind of victory chant. Hermione was giving him a happy smile and even Percy had rose from his seat and was actually the first one to welcome him to the house once he got over to the table. Many of the Gryffindors were eager to shake his hand and for a moment Harry began to fear that he would have a reapeat of The Leaky Cauldron incident. Thankfully, Dumbledore rose from his seat and as soon as people noticed he was standing, the hall quieted down and the sorting continued. Harry caught Dumbledore's eyes and gave him a thankful smile, which got returned by the old man.

True to its word, the sorting hat barely touched Ron's head before it declared that he would be going to Gryffindor. Ron didn't waste any time and quickly went over to join Harry and his brothers. The sorting ceremony ended when Blaise Zabini got sorted into Slytherin. After the sorting ceremony, Dumbledore told the students that The Forbidden Forest was... well _forbidden._ He also said that the corridor on the third floor was forbidden to all who didn't want to die a very painful death.

When the feast began, Harry found himself in a discussion with Percy about the classes that they would have at the school. He had never regarded himself as particularly studios but he found himself deeply fascinated by the classes Percy described to him. Hermione, who sat opposite to him, was listening and seemed to suck in every word Percy said.

Later that night, Harry was sitting in his dormitory. Ron was snoring loudly in the bed to his left. His other dormmates, Seamus, Neville and a boy named Dean Thomas, were also asleep. But Harry couldn't sleep. He was still too excited. This day had been so wonderful. So much had happened he could hardly believe that onyl this morning he woke up in his bedroom at Private Drive Number 4. First he had been dropped off at King's Cross and realized he didn't know how to get onto Platform 9 3/4, only to be tackled to the ground by Ginny. He had met her family and made new friends at the train. Then he had finally arrived at Hogwarts and had been sorted into the same house as all his new friends.

Taking a deep breath, Harry got up from his bed and wrapped himself in his Hogwarts cloak. There was no way he was going to be able to sleep right now. Careful not to make a sound, he tripped over to the dormdoor and exited the dorm.

The common room was empty. Apperently, everyone wanted to be well rested for tomorrow's classes. Relishing in the mere fact that he was finally at Hogwarts, Harry sat down in one of the armchairs by the fireplace. Thinking back, Harry remembered Ginny's face when they met again outside of the platform. She had seemed so happy. And to be honest, he had felt really happy too. He really wished she could have come with him to Hogwarts this year. Sure, he had made some decent friends since he got here already, but... well, Ginny was different. She was special somehow. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but somehow she was different from the others.

Thinking of their time at the platform, from their meeting, to their stuggle with his trunk, to their parting. As he looked into the now almost extinguished fire, Ginny's crying face from when he walked away from her was plastered in front of his eyes. It pained him to think of the tears in her eyes. She cried because she was lonely. He knew that feeling, not having any friends your age around to play with. But unlike him, Ginny wasn't used to being alone. She had grown up with six brothers, always having someone around close to her age to play with. So now that all her brothers were at Hogwarts, he knew she felt left behind, no matter what she might say. She had been cheerful enough in her letters and on the platform until it was finally time to part ways.

He sighed. What wouldn't he give to be able to comfort her in some way, but he knew there was nothing he could do. He could just keep writing her and hope she really was alright.

"Harry? What are you doing up?"

Startled by the unexpected voice, Harry flew to his feet, looking around the room vividly. Finally, his gaze settled on the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories, where a round faced boy in light blue pyjamas was standing, looking around nervously.

"Neville, what are you doing up? I thought you were asleep?" he asked as his dormmate entered the common room, looking around as if searching for something.

Neville scanned the room with a nervous expression before diving to the floor. Harry twitched at the sudden movement and moved over to where the boy had thrown himself to the ground. When he went over to check if he was ok, he saw Neville was clutching his toad Trevor tightly in his grip.

"Oh, so that's what got you down here." Harry said, more to himself than Neville as he rolled his eyes and helped his friend to his feet.

He watched as Neville breathed a sigh of relief and gave Trevor a stern look for trying to escape. The toad didn't seem to mind being glared at, but he didn't look away from Neville, as if he didn't want to upset him more.

"Why are you always so worried when Trevor tries to escape? I've known you for like 6 hours at its peak and he have already tried to escape three times. Why don't you just let him roam free?" he asked. He had been wondering why Neville was so attached to the toad, despite their obvious problematics.

Neville got up from the floor and sighed before turning to Harry. He looked hesistant about what he was about to say, but seemed to ultimately reveal it.

"Well the thing is, Trevor is the only friend I have since before Hogwarts. I... grew up with my grandma in a muggle town and since she was certain I was going to Hogwarts, she didn't see any reason for me to befriend any of the local kids. So Trevor was my only friend. Without him, I would have been all alone." he said as he looked down on his toad with fond eyes.

For a moment, Harry briefly wondered if perhaps Trevor was the reason Neville appeared to be so clumsy. Growing up with a toad as your best friend can't be really healthy for ones psyche. But then, it registered in his mind what he had said.

"Friend..." he said thoughtfully as the problem he had been pondering when Neville came down returned to him. A plan began forming in his head on how he could help Ginny feel like she wasn't all alone. "Neville! You're a genius! Thanks for the help!" he said a little higher than he had intended.

Neville looked up with a startled look at Harry's sudden outburst but his dormmate was already on his way back up the stairs. It took Neville almost 10 seconds to understand what had happened. He frowned as he couldn't really figure out what Harry had been talking about, much less what impact he had on Harry's reaction.

"What did I say?" he asked no one in particular.

"Crooaak!" Trevor answered.

**-:-:-:-**

The next morning, Harry awoke early. He had fallen asleep last night before Neville even got back up to the dorm. Somehow, the knowledge that he could help Ginny had enabled him to get some sleep. Feeling well rested, Harry got out of bed and noticed that he was the first one in his dorm to awake. He wondered if he should wake Ron up but decided against it. There was still a few hours before their classes would start so there was no reason to rush him.

So without making a sound, Harry grabbed the school bag he had prepared the night before and left the dormitory. Down in the common room, very few people seemed to have woke up yet. There were a few 5th years seated in front of the fireplace and two 3rd years had taken up seats by one of the tables, playing some kind of card game. Scanning the room, Harry spotted Percy sitting on a chair in his own little corner, reading a book. Perfect, just the person he needed to talk to. So without further ado, he went over to the prefect boy.

"Good morning Percy!" he said in a cheerful voice.

The Weasley boy looked up from his book with a startled look. Seeing Harry, his face shifted from irritation to a somewhat greeting smile.

"Morning Harry. You sure are eager to start your classes I see?"

Harry frowned for a second, then realized he probably looked pretty studios with his bag thrown over his shoulder. Well, he was eager to start but that wasn't why he had walked over to Percy...

"I sure am! But there is something else I would like to do before classes start. Think you can help me?" he asked, hoping Percy wouldn't ask too many questions.

Like during dinner the night before, Percy seemed to peak up at the thought of being of help to someone. According to what Ron and Ginny had told him, Percy was very responsible and took his duties as prefect very seriously. It would appear that included, or perhaps specifically meant, helping younger students.

"Of course, what is it you need help with?" he asked with a very serious look on his face.

Harry had to hold back a snicker at Percy's overly serious expression.

"Well, I was just wondering if it was possible to order something from a shop in Diagon Alley without actually visiting the shop?"

Percy nodded knowingly. Once again, Harry had to surpress the urge to snicker at Percy's antics. He definetely had to ask Ginny if Percy had always been this overly dramatic. He could of course ask Ron, but something told him Ginny would give him a better answer. Or at least a more detached one.

"Well, of course there is. You can order something by owl post. Do you know exactly what it is you want to order?"

Harry shook his head.

"Ok, then you can send an owl to the shop you want to get whatever you want to get from and ask for them to send you a catalogue of their current products."

Harry nodded and thanked Percy for his help. The prefect made a show of being modest, but Harry couldn't help but notice he gave him a curious look as he excited through the portait hole. Thinking about what he should write in his letter, Harry made his way down to the great hall. Or well, the way he thought led to the great hall. It didn't take him long to realize he was lost.

Thinking back to the day before, he remembered Percy had mentioned that the stairs tended to move and change place. And Hogwarts was big so it would be enough that he had walked down one wrongly placed stair to throw him completely off course. He had thought the great hall would be on the other side of this corner, but when he turned around the corner, he found himself standing in another corridor, which on top of that ended in a dead end.

"Harry? Is that you?"

Upon hearing his name being spoken, Harry spun around and found Cedric Diggory walking towards him. Frowning, he turned around and walked to meet him. He had been pretty sure there was no one behind him just a second ago.

"Hey Cedric! Eh, what are you doing here?"

Cedric smiled as he came up to stand in front of Harry, the difference in height between them becoming painfully visible. As Harry looked up at the older boy, Cedric gave him a sympathethic look.

"Well, I was just on my way to the Great hall. I sometimes take these little extra long walks on my way there to get some time alone. It is soothing to be able to just walk and think for a little while. By the look on your face, I would say you were trying to find your way to the Great hall but got lost?"

Harry felt his cheeks redden with embarrassment. Was he really that obvious?

"Well, don't worry about it. It took me 3 weeks before I could get to the great hall without a single wrong turn. And the stairs doesn't exactly help, do they?" Cedric smiled at him as he began leading Harry down the corridor that was a dead end.

When they reached the end of the corridor, Cedric reached out and pushed a brick that was sticking out slightly from the wall. When the brick had been pushed back in place, Harry gasped as Cedric's hand suddenly went straight through the brick. Seeing Harry's shocked expression, Cedric laughed.

"It's a short cut. Push the brick into place and the wall will let you slip through. It takes 10 minutes from the point the brick is put into place before it slips back out again."

And with that explanation, Cedric stepped through the wall. Harry eyes widened in surprise. It was just like on platform 9 3/4! Shaking his head to clear it, he took a deep breath and followed Cedric through. On the other side, he was greeted by the older Hufflepuff boy, who was waiting for him.

"See? It works like a kind of portal. Now we need just to take to the left over here and we are there."

As Harry followed his friend around the appointed corner, he found that he was right. They were standing in the entrance hall. The large double doors that led to the Great hall were open and through them, Harry could see a few early morning strayers eating their breakfast. Thanking Cedric for his help, Harry walked over to the Gryffindor table and began loading a plate with some bacon and eggs.

Some time later, students began filling into the hall as more and more of the castle's population awoke from their slumbers. By this time, Harry had finished his breakfast and picked out a quill and a piece of parchment to write his letter to the Magical Menagerie. He had just put the finishing touch to it when Ron, Seamus, Dean and Neville entered the hall.

"Hey mate! We were wondering where you went off to. Why were you up so early?" Ron asked as he loaded his plate with double of what Harry had taken.

"I woke up early and didn't see any reason to stay in bed. Besides, I thought it would be useful to get to know the castle a bit." Harry made certain to leave out that he had gotten lost on his way to the great hall.

Seamus, who had sat down around them, groaned at the mention of getting to know the castle.

"Well, that's the understatement of the year. We got lost after the first turn!" he said before scoping up a mouthful of scrambled eggs and shove them into his mouth.

This caused Ron to glare at his dormmate and Harry to chuckle. Neville didn't seem to mind and Dean just ignored their friends. For a little while, they simply sat in place and talked until Professor McGonagall came down to them and gave them their timetables. Checking his over, Harry noticed he still had an hour before his first class, Transfiguration, started and decided it was as good a time as any to send of an owl to Diagon Alley. But before he could rise from his seat and excuse himself, a tall shadow fell over him and his little group of fellow Gryffindors.

"Good morning Harry. I trust you are anxious to start your classes?"

Harry turned around to find that Uncle Sev... uhm, Professor Snape had left the staff table while he was checking his schedule and was now standing behind them. The other 4 boys immediately tensed, for various reasons, but Harry quickly stood up and greet his favorite uncle.

"Morning Professor! Yes, I am quite anxious to finally get things underway! I look forward to your first class. I think it is scheduled to be tomorrow afternoon." he said enthusiastically. Snape however, seemed to only register part of what he said.

"No need for formalities as long as we aren't in class, Harry." he said with a small smile tugging at his lips. He was pleased that at least Harry had learnt the manners in which you were supposed to talk to a Professor, but he didn't want to alienate himself from him.

Harry noticed that the other boys, except Ron who had gone back to eating, was looking at him strangely, no doubt wondering from where he knew Severus Snape. This was going to be fun.

"Ehm, ok then Uncle Sev. Actually, can you help me with something before I go off to class?" he asked, enjoying the stares of shock the surrounding students gave him when he reffered to the professor as "Uncle Sev".

Severus frowned, but gave Harry a nod to indicate that he was free to ask.

"I got a letter I would like to send, but I don't know where the owlery is. Think you got time to show me?"

Once again, Severus found himself frowning. Who could Harry possibly want to send an owl to this early in the morning? Well, there was of course the Weasley girl, but other than that, Severus couldn't think of any.

"Of course. If you are finished with your breakfast, we can go now if you want?" he answered.

Harry nodded and gave his friends a simple "Catch you later guys!" and followed Snape out of the great hall. While they were walking, Harry got Snape to tell him about all that they passed so he might have a better chance of finding his way back afterwards. After many twists and turns, Snape led Harry outside and pointed towards a tower that was only reachable from outside. When they made it to the owlery and Harry called down one of the school owls, Severus couldn't help but become a little curious.

"Why aren't you using Hedwig?" he asked as he looked up among the owls, trying to spot the owl he had given Harry as a birthday gift.

"She is at the burrow. I sent a letter to Ginny while I was on the train and she hasn't returned yet." Harry replied as he tied the letter around the owls leg and went over to the window.

Severus nodded and smiled as Harry gave the owl its instructions. He had noticed that Harry had become quite close to Ginny Weasley since they met in Diagon Alley. According to Arthur, the two of them had been corresponding ever since and from the looks of it, become good friends. He was actually pretty happy that Harry had finally found a real friend. Severus knew all too well what it was like not having any real friends...

"So if Hedwig is at the burrow, then where are you sending this owl? No reason to send Ginny another owl if she haven't answered your first one yet." he asked curiously as Harry tossed the bird outside and watched as it took off.

Harry turned back towards Snape and the two began walking towards the exit.

"Well, I know Ginny is lonely at home, no matter what she might try to tell me. So I thought perhaps if she got a friend she wouldn't be so lonely anymore."

Severus frowned. Of course she wouldn't be as lonely if she got a friend. That was the whole problem here, wasn't it? She didn't have any friends nearby! He was just about to point this out to Harry when he came to think about Hedwig...

"That owl you sent off... it was sent to the Magical Menagerie?" he asked.

When Harry nodded and then looked away shyly, Severus inwardly groaned. While it was a brilliant idea and would no doubt help Ginny feel less lonely, the Weasley pride might present a problem here. Since it was a living being, he wasn't sure if Ginny would be too petty when it came to accept it, but her mother on the other hand... that was a different story. He tried to point this out to Harry, but the boy just said that Mrs Weasley wanted Ginny's best and if Ginny really felt better with a pet at hand to play with, then her mother should not keep it from her. When they reached Professor McGonagall's classroom, Severus told Harry to remember to drop by his office when his school day was finished. Harry looked at him questioningly, but complied nonetheless.

When the class started, Harry became painfully aware that most eyes in the classroom was aimed at him, rather than their teacher and McGonagall confirming his whole name didn't make things better.

"Ronald Weasley?" McGonagall finished her check off.

But no answer came. Looking around, Harry noticed that Ron wasn't present. He cast a look at Seamus and Dean, who was sitting a few rows further back in the classroom, but they both shrugged, indicating they didn't know where he was. The answer would present itself about 20 minutes later when Ron came rushing into the classroom, shouting that he had gotten lost again. After McGonagall reprimanded him for being late and warned him that next time she would have to take points from Gryffindor, Ron sat down next to Harry.

"Blimey, this castle is big." he said.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Really? What tipped you off?" he asked sarcastically.

The lesson went on without any other interesting event taking place, except that Harry found out Hermione hadn't been joking when she said she had memorized their school books down to the tiniest little detail. She earned Gryffindor 20 points for being able to answer all the questions they were given. Harry too knew the answer to most of them, but did not feel like drawing attention to himself. His scar did a pretty good job at that without him opening his mouth.

Being introduced to new classes made the day pass quickly and when the first years gathered in the great hall for dinner, Harry felt himself pump with excitement from all that he had learnt just in one day. He of course had read most of his school books to pass the time at Private Drive, but being able to discuss issues with a teacher or classmate opened up a whole new world of possibilities. Still, he found Magical History pretty boring and had actually dozed off in that class (along with everyone who wasn't named Hermione Granger) and he was a little disappointed not to be allowed to try out any magic just yet.

"Percy says that we won't start using magic before our second week. So except for the flying lesson on wednesday, we don't have anything really exciting until next week." Ron told Harry, Seamus and Neville while they were eating their dinner. Dean had decided he wanted to drop off his school stuff in the Gryffindor tower before he went down to eat.

"Well Weasley, that might be exciting for someone who doesn't know how to fly a broom, but some of us isn't as dense as you." came a sneer from behind them.

All 4 boys spun around to find Draco Malfoy had walked over to the Gryffindor table, flanked by his two goons Crabbe and Goyle. Ron immediately turned red around the ears, a trait Harry by now recognized as a bad sign. Neville seemed to sink into his seat and Seamus growled at Malfoy, though he didn't turn as red as Ron's ears.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked while glaring at the blonde boy.

Malfoy gave Ron a look of superiority and turned to Harry with a smug look on his face.

"Oh, I forgot! Potter doesn't even know what a broomstick is cause he grew up like a mudblood!"

At the use of the term "mudblood" the entire Gryffindor table froze and turned to look at Malfoy. Harry heard people shout in uproar and could make out the words "How dare you?!", "Who do you think you are?!" and "Get lost you scum!". While he had no idea what the term meant, he would guess that it was a pretty foul term, considering the reaction it got from others. Beside him Ron was seething with anger and had to be held back by Seamus, though the other boy looked like he too didn't want anything more than jump a Malfoy at that moment.

"I don't know what you meant by that Malfoy, but I suggest you leave now before Seamus loses his grip on Ron." Harry said and pointed towards the youngest Weasley boy. Big mistake on his part.

"Oh, that's right. Weasleys can't afford a broomstick cause they got no money!" Malfoy sneered, obviously pleased with the reaction he had gotten.

That was he last drop that caused the goblet to overflow. With a roar, Ron pushed Seamus out of the way and threw himself towards Malfoy. Seeing his friend was about to get himself into trouble, Harry grabbed him and tried to hold him back. Ron struggled against his new caretaker, but Harry was saved when an authoritive voice sounded above their heads.

"What's going on here?"

Professor Sinistra, the head of Slytherin House, had come down from the staff table when she had noticed the commotion. She had barely said it before the entire tables burst into a loud declaration that, if you read between the lines, demanded Malfoy's head. Harry noticed that Malfoy was still smirking at them. But that smirk got wiped out when...

"Mr Malfoy, you are coming with me to my office. Now." Professor Sinistra said sternly.

It seemed to take a lot fo brainpower from Malfoy's part for him to realize that he was in trouble, as it took several seconds for him to answer.

"What? I'm not the one who attempted to attack another student! Weasley should be the one to recieve detention!" he exclaimed.

At Malfoy's accusation, Ron tensed up again and so did most of the surrounding students, but Harry moved to silently place himself between the red haired boy and Malfoy. The last they needed was detention on their first day in school. When Malfoy kept refusing to go with his head of house, Professor Sinistra proceeded to grab him by the ear and drag him out of the great hall.

"Ouch! What do you think you're doing?! Don't you know that this can get you into trouble with the ministry?! I haven't eaten my dinner yet, let me go! Just wait until my father hears about this!" Malfoy screamed as he got dragged out of the great hall.

After a moment, snickers began spreading throughout the hall before the entire collected student body, with the exception of the Slytherins, burst out laughing. Harry had to lean on the table not to fall to the ground. The image of Malfoy being dragged off by the ear would be etched into his mind forever. This just made Harry's day and that was saying something as it was his first day at Hogwarts.

"That was just bloody brilliant! If I see Sinistra again, I could probably kiss her!" Ron laughed beside him.

As the commotion that had spread with Malfoy's departure settled down, the Weasley twins moved over to their younger brother to tease him about his comment about Sinistra. When Harry had calmed down, he checked his watch and thought it would be as good a time as any to make his visit to Uncle Sev's office, he excused himself and left Ron to his fate at the hands of Fred and George. Having had a Ravenclaw prefect point out which dungeon he was supposed to go to beforehand, Harry easily found his way down to where Snape had his office and knocked on the door.

"Enter." came the simple answer.

When Harry entered, the first thing that struck him was that it was a lot darker down here than it was in classrooms above ground level. The wall were covered by bookshelfs that contained either books of some kind or glass containers that held various items. In the far end of the room was a working desk filled with papers and in a chair behind it sat Professor Snape.

"Ah Harry. Good to see you. I take it you have had a good first day here?" Severus asked and motioned for him to sit down in a chair that was placed in front of the desk.

Harry didn't argue and went over to sit, all the while studying the many books and containers with varrying interest.

"Yeah, it's been great so far! Definetely worth the wait to come here!" he said enthusiastically.

Snape nodded and looked at him for a moment, then his face broke out into a grin.

"I heard you witnessed the scene with Mr Malfoy up in the great hall a few minutes ago?" he said, clearly amused.

"How... how did you know about that?" Harry asked, stunned. Sure, Snape had told him that gossip travelled fast at Hogwarts but this was ridiculus.

Snape smirked.

"Mr Malfoy's screams of complaint was heard even down here. The Slytherins have their common room down here so I heard him when he came down afterwards with Professor Sinistra." Snape answered.

The next few minutes were used for Harry to explain what had happened in detail, from their little talk by the table, to when Malfoy showed up and began making sneery remarks, to when Professor Sinistra had grabbed him by the ear and left the hall. Severus couldn't help but laugh when he imagined Lucius Malfoy's face when he learnt that his son had been pulled by the ear all the way from the great hall down into the dungeons. Now, that would be a sight to behold!

But you didn't call me down here to talk about Malfoy, did you Sev?" Harry asked carefully, not sure if it was his place really to push the matter.

Severus shook his head at the boy's eagerness and reached inside one of the drawers in his desk and pulled out a big piece of parchment that he placed on the desk between them. Harry stared at the parchment for a moment, then at his Professor, then back at the parchment.

"What's this?" he asked curiously.

Harry knew Uncle Sev shouldn't have brought him down here if there wasn't something special he wanted to talk about and if this parchment was the reason, then it must be special. Snape however, simply tapped the surface of the parchment with his wand and said:

"**_I solemnly swear that I am up to no_**_** good**!__"_

As soon as he had said it, linees began drawing themselves all over the parchment. Harry watched wide-eyed how the lines came together to form what appeared to be a map of Hogwarts. Stunned, he picked it up and looked it over. Severus watched him with a smile on his face. No matter how much he still disliked Harry's father, he acknowledged that this creation of his was truly remarkable. And since Harry was James' son, it would technically rightfully belong to him as the other 3 creators of the map was currently in prison, missing or dead. Or well, perhaps Lupin wasn't really missing, but no one knew where he had gone off to after the first war ended. By now, Harry had noticed the inscription on the map and decided to read aloud.

"Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs hereby proudly present: The Marauder's Map!"

Severus nodded.

"Yes. The Marauders were four of the worst pranksters this school has ever seen. Even the Weasley twins pale in comparison. And on top of that, everyone always knew it was the Marauders but they never got caught. If you take a closer look at the map, then you might just find out why." he said.

Harry scouted the map and when he realized what Snape was refering to, his eyes widened again.

"Those dots! Is that...?"

"Yes, they show every person within the castle grounds." Snape said.

For a moment, Harry just sat there, shocked. He looked over the map and found names he knew. Cedric was still sitting in the great hall with a group of his friends, while Ron and the others had returned to the common room. Dumbledore was sitting in his office and Hermione was sitting in what was marked as the library on the map. What in Merlin's beard was she doing there? She already knew everything! When he had finished marvelling over the map, he looked up at Snape's amused expression.

"Why are you giving this to me?"

Snape laughed and Harry thought he might just have seen a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Well, we can't have you getting lost on the way to the great hall again, can we?" he said with a fake mocking voice.

Feeling his cheeks heat up, Harry looked away, which caused Snape to chuckle.

"How do you know about that?"

After all, he hadn't told anyone that he had gotten lost this morning so the only one who should know would be Cedric. He couldn't see it since he was looking the other way, but Snape raised an eyebrow and grinned at him.

"Magic." he said.

Did Uncle Sev just make a joke?

"But aside from the fact that you need to learn how to navigate your way through the castle, it is also rightfully yours. Your father was involved in its creation so it only fits that you should have it." he said as he pointed at the name "Prongs" at the map. Harry looked at where Snape was pointing and felt his eyes widen for what must be the hundrenth time that day.

"My dad was Prongs?" he asked in wonder.

For a moment, Harry just stared at the name, then reached out with his hand and stroke it over the letters. Suddenly, this map felt different. It was a relic of his father, a memento to the man that had given his life to protect him. For a little while, he didn't know if it was minutes or longer, he just sat there and looked at the name and stroke his fingers over it. Could it be that his father had wrote this himself then? After a while, a sudden thought struck him and he looked up at Snape again.

"How did you get into possession of this?" he asked curiously. If it had belonged to his father, then how come Snape had it?

"Well, it's a pretty funny story actually. Filch had confiscated it, but lost it to the Weasley twins during their first year. However, I managed to catch them in the act of using it once and took it back, without Filch knowing. He is still set out to try and get it back from the twins." he said.

Harry, who already had a pretty bad impression of the Hogwarts caretaker, had to stiffle a laugh at the thought of the grumpy old man trying to get the map off the Weasley twins while they didn't even have it. However, that opened up for one last question.

"Are you really allowed to give me this, since you are a teacher?"

Severus grinned.

"No, as a teacher I'm not. But as I said, outside of the classroom I'm your part guardian, not your teacher and in that light, I am in my full right to give you this."

Thinking it over, Harry found himself grinning at Severus reasoning. Technically, he was right. While the Dursleys were his official guardians, Snape had made sure he also got written over as having part responsability for him during his younger years so that he would be able to quickly get Harry out of the Dursleys hands, should the need arise.

"Well, thanks a lot Uncle Sev. You don't know how much this means to me." he said as he picked up his bag to put the map away.

Seeing that Harry was about to leave, Severus remembered there was one more thing about the map he needed to tell him.

"When you are done using the map, just touch it with your wand and say "Mischief Managed" and it will erase itself from the parchment. That way, no one but you will be able to use it at will." he said.

Harry nodded but didn't erase the map just yet. He would probably need it to find his way back to the common room. Thanking Uncle Sev again and saying he looked forward to tomorrow's potions class, Harry left the dungeons and used the map to navigate his way back to the great hall. Once there, he stopped to find the quickest way back to the common room. When he was done, he erased the map and put it back in his school bag. As he walked back to the common room, he made sure to remember certain landmarks he could use to find his way back to the great hall without the map the following morning.

"Caput Draconis." he gave the password to the portait of the fat lady that guarded the entrance to the Gryffindor tower.

As soon as he entered, he spotted Ron, Dean and Seamus sitting in a corner and waving him over.

"Hey mate! Care for a game of Wizarding Chess?" Ron asked with a triumphant smile on his face. Seamus, who was sitting opposite to him, shook his head and made a "X" sign with his arms, clearly trying to say it was not a good idea.

"Don't do it Harry! Ron's a mad man when it comes to this game. I've lost 5 times in a row already!" Dean said to underline Seamus motions.

Harry looked form the chessboard, to Ron and then back again before smirking.

"We'll see about that." he said confidently.

Later that night, Harry would have nightmares about chesspieces.

* * *

**A/N: **_So I would say that is a good time to end the chapter. So now we know that Harry is in Gryffindor! I'm sorry to all of you who wanted him to be in Ravenclaw but Gryffindor won the poll fair and square. I hope you will keep on reading the story anyway. _

Now that we got that out of the way, the next poll is up. This one allow you 8 votes for who you want Harry to interact with and befriend in his first year at Hogwarts. I might have missed someone but that can't have been too many and if there are someone certain you think should be an alternative, then tell me and I will put him/her up.

Answers to some reviews:

_**Lordban: **Well, I guess I can see what you are trying to say, but when I said that "the day passed at the burrow", it was more to signal that they fell into a routine. I also mentioned in that same text that the routine usually got messed up a little whenever Harry sent a message. I hope you can accept that._

**_MyHarryPotterAddiction:_**_ Well, the story wouldn't be much if it followed canon all the way. It will contain some serious changes in generall, but you will proably find them a little bit later in the first year as its hard to really change much there and still get the story where I want it. But I try to change so much I can. _

_**Cosmyk Angel: **Don't worry, I don't take offence in what you say. From what I know, "weren't" is supposed to be used when you speak in pluralis while "wasn't" is in singularis? I am well aware that I might have messed that up at a few places. I might go back and fix it later. Oh, and you do make a good point about Ginny's house, but you will have to wait until next school year to see what happens! ;)_

**_Sisno2200:_**_ Why in Merlin's beard didn't you review as logged in? Never mind, I definetely am inclined to agree with you, but in the case of Ron, does that really add up? I mean, he isn't exactly the most studious one... And just because we didn't read about it in the book, it doesn't mean it didn't happen. Bill and Charlie had left school and was working as adults when we meet them, why would someone bring up what accidental magic they did? But aside from that, well Ginny will be doing magic at home, with or without her mother's consent. She already have actually *cough* Bat-Bogey Hex *cough*._

_Now as I said: thanks to all of you who reviewed and didn't get an answer here. I still read all of your reviews._

**And with that, this chapter comes to an end. I would really like to know what you think of Harry's sorting, about giving him the map early and if you think it sounded farfetched for Snape to give it to him? So please review! I really love reviews! They're addicting! See ya next time!**


	7. Harry takes flight

**A/N:**_ Whaaaaat's up?! I'm back with another update! I must confess I am extremely proud of my update rate for this story! I haven't been this fast an updater since ... well ever! =)_

_Now, I have gotten 18 people to vote for the poll of who Harry should interact with more and form friendships with during his first year and so far, Fred and George Weasley are in lead with 14 votes, tightly followed by Neville Longbottom and Cedric Diggory at 13 votes each! The current top 10 is, as follows: Fred and George, Neville, Cedric, Hermione, Ron, Blaise, Susan, Katie, Daphne and Hannah (shared amount of vote with Percy and Wood). So if you feel someone should be higher on the list or you just feel someone is missing, dont be shy to go to my profile and vote for your favorite._

_That said, I think I'll leave the rest of the small talk until after the chapter is done. I also got a simple question I want an answer for at the bottom so even if you don't wanna read the answers to my reviews, please just read the AN at the bottom and answer. =)_

**_Disclaimer:_**_ Don't own this stuff... _

* * *

**Chapter Seven: **Harry takes flight

The Wednesday morning found the first year Gryffindor boys sitting in the great hall, excited for their full day flight training. The teachers had decided that it would be better for them to get all their teaching in flight done in one day and then be done with it rather than draw it out, since there really wasn't that much they needed to learn, just get some practice in. They were supposed to meet Professor Hooch outside at the school grounds by 10 o'clock and then she would tutor them until 12 when they would take a break for lunch. After lunch, those who still needed help with their broom skills would rejoin Madam Hooch outside while the rest would get the day off.

During breakfast, Harry was pleasantly surprised to find that Hedwig was among the owls that arrived in the great hall, carrying Ginny's answer to the letters they had sent on the train. When the snow white owl dropped down in front of him, Ron immediately reached for the parchment that had his name on it. He tore it open and read the lines she had written to him and sighed with relief. She had forgiven him. He looked to see what she had written to Harry, only to find that his friend had tucked the letter inside his robes.

"Aren't you going to read it?" he asked suspiciously. Why wouldn't Harry read his letter from Ginny? Did he think it contained something he didn't want Ron to know?

Harry looked at his friend for a moment, carefully picking out his words.

"Mine and Ginny's letters have been our private business for the last month and that's how it's going to stay." he said, studying his friend for any sign of a negative reaction.

Ron looked like he was going to complain but thankfully, Hedwig chose that moment to step in between them and munching on a piece of bacon. The red haired boy took a look at the owl and remembered how she had snapped at his fingers when he had tried to take Ginny's letter once. When Hedwig looked up at him, as if to say "_your finger will end up like this piece of meat if you try to take that letter"_, Ron decided to just shrugg it off and let Harry and Ginny have their secrets. It would probably be less painful that way.

After finishing breakfast, the first years all found themselves outside on the grounds. As was expected, they were standing grouped in their houses, as they hadn't really had any contact with people from other houses yet. They were still getting to know each other. All 8 Gryffindors were standing close to each other, all doing their own thing. Parvati and Lavender seemed to have taken to each other rather quickly and were already discussing their families and how they had grown up. Hermione was once again standing for herself, silently trying to rehearse what she had read about flying in a book. Harry, Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville was standing in a little group of their own, discussing quidditch, the greatest wizarding sport in the world, played on brooms. Ron seemed to know as much about quidditch as Hermione knew about their classes, which would mean pretty much everything they could think of.

The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs were also standing in their little groups, talking amongst themselves. Harry noticed that the students in those houses tended to cast a sideway glance at him from time to time, but he did his best to ignore it. His own housemates had been the same during the first two days at school, but they had settled down after they got used to seeing him around. The other houses hadn't seen him as much and so wasn't as used to being around the "boy who lived".

Looking over towards the brooms that were already placed on the ground where they were supposed to start training as soon as Madam Hooch arrived. Which should be in 10 minutes according to Harry's tattered old wrist watch. When he looked up from his wrist watch, he noticed that Malfoy was giving him angry looks. Answering with a simple smile, Harry turned away from the slytherin boy. Malfoy had been glaring at him ever since that first incident in the great hall when Professor Sinistra had pulled him out by the ear. However, he hadn't done anything about it as Malfoy hadn't dared to make another move. Apparently, something was different today becuase when Harry smiled and turned away, Malfoy stalked over towards them. As he passed by the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, the groups immediately quieted down, watching as the blonde boy closed in on the Gryffindors.

"You think you're so good, don't you Potter? Just because you are the teacher's pet doesn't mean you're better than me." he almost spat out the name "Potter" and the mention of "teacher's pet".

Harry frowned at being called the teacher's pet. Sure, he had done ok in classes but from what he knew, no one had treated him any differently from anyone else and Hermione usually gave better explanations than him when asked a question. While he was frowning at Malfoys' statement, the rest of the first years gathered around the two of them.

"I don't know what you are talking about, Malfoy."

Malfoy kept on glaring at him, but then suddenly stretched out in his full height and his face took on that all to familiar look of superiority.

"You're fame won't help you out here, Potter. To be able to fly you will need true skills, not just a teacher who is a suck up."

Seeing that he wouldn't be able to go at this in a defensive stance, Harry allowed his face to harden, something he had learnt to control pretty good during his twists with Uncle Vernon, and instead went on the offensive.

"Well, that means you're not so lucky either, doesn't it? That daddy you're so proud of won't be able to buy you this Malfoy, because skills can't be bought by money."

Behind him, he heard a few snickers and he didn't need to turn around to know that Ron was close to laughing out loud. Malfoy's expression became sour as his glare was back and he immediately spat:

"At least I have a father! At least my parents weren't pathethic enough to go and get themselves blown up!"

In a matter of seconds, Harry's light mood got swiped away and he felt cold rage filling him at the insult to his parents. His face, that had been a hard but rather amused expression up until that point, lost all of its calm nature and for a moment, his eyes flashed from green to a sickly yellow. Malfoy stumbled back when he saw the almost unnoticable change in Harry's eyes, but a second later it was gone again. However, he got the impression he might have taken this too far.

"Never! Ever! Insult! My! Parents! Again!" Harry roared in a fit of rage. He didn't know why, but without thinking he pulled out his wand and pointed it at Malfoy's throat. It would be no use, since he didn't really know any spells yet, but for some reason he just did it. When Malfoy realized he was threatened, he tried to take a step back but found that he couldn't due to the crowd of first year students that was standing around them. He cast another glance at Harry's rage filled face again and when the boy who lived didn't seem to waver, he started whimpering.

"Harry, stop it! He's not worth it!" a voice called from somewhere behind Harry.

Even in his enraged state, Harry recognized Hermione's voice and after giving Malfoy one last disgusted look, he lowered his wand. No longer being pinned at the tip of a wand, Malfoy drew a breath and fell to the ground. The crowd around them looked on with varying expressions of shock, fascination and support. Pansy Parkinson, a girl in Slytherin that had taken to walking around the castle along with Malfoy and his goons, stepped inside the circle and pulled the blonde boy to his feet. Harry watched with pity as Malfoy behaved like he had been hit by a most painful and devastating curse.

"Hah, not so tough outside of the common room now are you Malfoy?" a voice came from behind the Slytherin part of the crowd.

The crowd scattered to reveal a dark skinned boy with short hair. Harry recognized him vaguely from the sorting ceremony. He had been the last person to be sorted. If memory served correct, he had been sorted into Slytherin.

"Shut up, Blaise. No one asked for your opinion!" Malfoy snarled at the boy, causing Harry to frown. Were the Slytherins fighting amongst themselves?

The boy, Blaise, didn't seem particularly offended by Malfoy's declaration. He just glared at his housemate with despise. A stare that was returned fourfold by Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and Parkinson.

"Too bad I didn't ask for your consent then, Draco." Blaise retorted.

Harry looked at the interaction with interest. They hadn't been at the school for more than 3 days but it seemed he and the Gryffindors weren't the only ones who had found a dislike for the cocky Slytherin boy.

Seeing that nothing was to come of the situation, it appeared Malfoy had gotten a little more vary of himself after he had Harry's wand pointed at him, Harry turned his focus back to what had happened in his own twist with Malfoy. That feeling... it had been so cold. The anger that had flowed through him was unlike anything he had ever felt before, yet it felt familiar somehow. As if he had felt it before... in another life. No! What was he thinking? That sounded completely ridiculus, even for a magical world.

"Good morning students!"

The row between the two Slytherin boys and Harry trail of thought was interrupted by the arrival of Madam Hooch. Malfoy cast one last glare at Blaise before they were guided over to the broom sticks on the ground by their teacher. The initial instructions were pretty simple and when they were told to call their brooms off the ground by saying "up", Harry noticed that his was one of the few that actually did as it was told. Hermione's did react at all while Seamus was rolling around on the ground. Ron's did get "up", but it did so to hit him on the nose, earning a few chuckles from the surrounding Gryffindors.

After a while, when everyone had at least triggered a reaction from their brooms, Madam Hooch instructed the students to try and levitate off the ground a little and then land back down again with no trouble. Easier said than done, but Harry found that it really wasn't that hard. In fact, he was doing remarkably good since it was his first time and the only one who was doing as good as him was, to his great dismay, Malfoy.

When they were getting close to lunch, Madam Hooch allowed the more advanced students to try and spread their wings while she worked on helping the ones who had trouble. Smiling at Ron, who had gotten slightly better once he got into gear, Harry kicked off from the ground. It was a wonderful feeling. The air that was carressing his hair and sweeping it out of his face, the sensation of being completely free... it just felt awesome. He couldn't describe it in any other way. He felt like he was one with the broomstick. Behind him, Ron was wobbling a bit but managed to stay upright. Aside from the two of them, only 3 students were able to keep control of their broom: Draco Malfoy, Susan Bones and Blaise Zabini. Malfoy of course was flying circles around the poor students who hadn't managed to completely control their broom yet while grinning superiorly, Blaise was just hovering in the air and Susan was flying over towards her friends in Hufflepuff to see if she could help them get the hang of it. Unfortunately, she was still pretty high up in the air when...

WHAM!

With a scream of surprise, mixed in with pain, Susan was rammed by Neville who had lost control of his broom. The two fell off their brooms in mid air and fell towards the ground. Harry watched in horror as his friend and classmate was about to hit the ground.

"**_Alesto_ _Momentum_!**" came a shout and a bang from Madam Hooch's wand. Somehow, Neville and Susan began slowing their descent but not enough to stop completely. Seeing as they only had a few seconds to spare, Harry dove towards them and managed to grab Neville's collar, slowing his descent and righting him up enough to land shakily on his feet. Unfortunately, that meant he could not get to Susan in time and she hit the ground with a big baam.

Immediately after being set down, Neville took a deep breath to calm his nerves after the acident before rushing over to Susan.

"I'm so sorry! I couldn't figure out how to land the broom and panicked, then it all went wrong!" he shouted, horrified that his lack of skills in the matter had hurt someone other than himself.

Susan didn't move her head, but made a weak gesture with her hand as if to say it was not his fault. Harry touched down at the same spot he had sat donw Neville only moments before and rushed over to his friend's side.

"Out of the way! Out of the way!" Madam Hooch shouted as she made her way through the group of amassing students.

Looking over the injured student, the Professor quickly made out that she had hit her head pretty badly. She didn't know to what extent the damage was, but Madam Pomfrey should be able to fix it without a problem.

"Listen closely! No one is to ride a broom until I am back! Stay on the ground! If you disobey, you will be out of here, faster than you can say quidditch!" Madam Hooch declared as she conjured a simple stretcher to carry Susan on without risking to worsen her head. Neville, eager to make up for the damage he had caused, followed as Madam Hooch levitated the stretcher away from the rest of the students.

Harry watched them go. Seeing Neville distressed gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach and seeing a fellow student hurt didn't really make it better. If they had been in the muggle world, he was pretty sure Susan might have been hurt for life form an accident like that. By now, all students had gathered in one big group and was either whispering to the person standing next to them or looking after the corner where the stretcher had disappeared.

"Give it back Malfoy!" came an angry shout from somewhere behind Harry's back and he turned around, along with the rest of the collective first years.

Standing by the spot where Susan had crashed, Draco Malfoy was holding his right hand high into the air, keeping a lustrous object just out of the reach of a blonde girl with pigtails. If Harry's memory served him right, she was named Hannah Abbott and had been sorted into Hufflepuff. She had been the first one to be sorted.

Malfoy sneered as he took a step forward, his shoulder bumping into Hannah and causing her to lose balance. The Slytherins that stood behind him, excluding Blaise Harry noted, gave off a mocking laugh.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I found this little thing here in the grass. No one said it belongs to anyone." Malfoy sneered.

Harry felt himself slowly growing angry again. Hadn't Malfoy done enough damage today already?

"It belongs to Susan! She must have lost it when she fell..." Hannah tried to reason with him, though it was evident from her face that she was hurt by the way she was treated and didn't hold much hope that Malfoy would listen to her.

As he got closer to the two, Harry could make out what looked like a golden locket, attached to a golden chain, resting in Malfoy's clenched fist. His eyes narrowed when he looked at it. It reminded him of the locket he himself was wearing, day and night, that contained a picture of his mother and aunt on his parents' wedding. Lockets were usually kept to hold a very special picture to the person it belonged to.

"Give it here Malfoy!" he growled as he walked up to them.

Hannah, who was still sitting on the ground, looked up at him with a surprised look as he reached down and helped her to her feet. He gave her a brief smile before he turned back towards Malfoy and glared at him, like he had done earlier that morning. Malfoy seemed to be a little more self-concious under Harry's gace than he had been, looking down on the blonde Hufflepuff girl. Apparently, it was a whole different matter to stand up to someone who had been an inch from hexing him that morning than it was to look down on a girl that was almost half a head shorter than him. Sure, Harry couldn't have hexed him cause he didn't know any spells to use for it yet, but Malfoy didn't need to know that.

While Harry glared at him, Malfoy fought an internal battle. He didn't want to play into Potter's stupid hands and do as he said, but he didn't want to look like a coward in front of his entire year at school either. He was trapped between a rock and a hard place. However, Potter would only be able to hex him if he used his wand and to use his wand, he needed to have his hands free and it would also require for Malfoy to be relatively still. Too bad for Potter he was holding a broomstick.

"No! I think I'll hide it somewhere that girl won't find it." he sneered before sitting up on his broom and glide into the air. "What's the matter Potter? Scared of heights?" he mocked as he soared higher and higher into the sky.

Growling at his now official nemesis, Harry sat up on his broom and before anyone could protest, he shot off after the Slytherin. He heard gasps of surprise as he raced towards Malfoy who seemed to pale when Harry didn't slow down. When they were only a few meters apart, Malfoy dove to avoid getting caught by Harry. Missing his nemesis, Harry turned around but didn't shot away again. That had been a risky move he had pulled and it could have ended with another crash.

"This is you last chance Malfoy! Give it here or I'll knock you off your broom! You're gorilla friends can't protect you up here!" Harry growled.

The blonde boy seemed to be thinking along the same lines, because he was increasingly getting paler while Harry was glaring at him. Down below, the rest of the students had taken to watching the two students in the air, despite Hermione's claim that it was rule breaking and that they should be expelled for disobeying orders. Her claim had earned her glares from her fellow Gryffindors and, surprisingly, most of the Hufflepuffs. Hannah Abbott had her eyes fixed on Harry. She couldn't help but think that even if this was rule breaking, and she was usually one to be very strict about following the rules, Harry did not deserve any kind of punishment for this. He had stood up for her, and for Susan, and he didn't even know them. Come to think of it, he hadn't spoken to any of them since they started school. If someone deserved punishment it was Malfoy.

"Fine then! If this stupid piece of mock jewelry is so important, why don't you catch it?!" Malfoy cried as he pulled his arm back and sent the locket flying.

Harry's eyes widened as he saw the locket sail through the air, away from him. Without a second thought, he shot of after it but he made sure to give Malfoy a shove when he passed him, causing the Slytherin boy to cry out in surprise and lose his balance. He almost fell off his broom, but managed to hang on with his arms. While the non-Slytherins on the ground were either laughing or insulting Malfoy, Harry was driving his broom into a steep dive. Below him, he heard someone scream as he got closer to the ground, but he locked out the sounds to concentrate on his task. It was as if the locket was falling in slow motion. When he was close enough, he reached out with his hand and felt his fingers close around the small golden object before quickly pulling out of his dive, mere inches away from touching the grass.

Back with the group of students on the ground, Malfoy had just touched down on the ground, but no one payed him any attention as Harry had just ended his dive. When he had gotte too close to the ground for comfort, Hannah had screamed in fear and so had most other girls. The boys hadn't screamed, but at least a few of them had given fearful shouts. When Harry pulled out of his dive with the locket in his hand and steered his broom back towards, the students erupted into cheers (except the Slytherins of course). Lead by Ron, Seamus and Dean, the group of students came rushing towards where Harry had just touched down on the ground.

Mere seconds after he had landed, Harry was engulfed in a circle of first years. He felt slightly awkward as people kept on giving him comments and pats on the back. After a little while, it died down and the group began to give him enough space to breath. And enough space to notice the stern looking Professor that was standing a few feet away.

"Harry Potter!" Professor McGonagall called out in a voice that did not betray any emotions.

Harry felt his heart run cold. Madam Hooch had said that they could get expelled if they flew off on their brooms in her abscense. He couldn't be expelled! Not yet! No, not ever! He had only been here for 3 days!

"It wasn't his fault Professor!" came a shout from one of the Hufflepuffs.

"Yeah! Malfoy stole Susan's locket and Harry tried to get it back!" came a shout from Hannah.

Professor McGonagall however, didn't relent and knowing it was futile to resist his stern Head of House, he simply dropped his broom and followed her. When he passed Malfoy, the boy gave him a smug grin but Harry didn't even pay him any attention. Hermione had been right, he wasn't worth the trouble. Leaving behind the other students, McGonagall led Harry into the castle and through a number of corridors. Harry didn't really know where they were going, his gaze was locked on the ground in front of his feet. These steps might be the last he took here in the castle. He had been looking forward to walking these grounds since he was an infant and now he had to leave it? The realization hit him like thunder and he felt like his entire world collapsed around him. He barely registered when Professor McGonagall stopped in front of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and went inside, asking for one "Mr Wood". When his teacher returned, Harry looked up to find that his Professor had brought with her an older Gryffindor student.

"Mr Potter, this is Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team. Wood, I have found you a new seeker." McGonagall had an undertone of excitement in her voice as she said it, a tone Harry had thought was uncapable of making its way into her voice.

The other student, Wood, looked gobsmacked as McGonagall told him what she had seen Harry do. When she was done, Wood looked like christmas had come 4 months early. He immediately set to study Harry's physique, his lenght, his muscles and finished by saying they probably should try and get him a real racer broom for maximum effectivity on the quidditch pitch.

**-:-:-:-**

About 10 minutes later, a very confused Harry was making his way towards the great hall for lunch. He still had trouble to process what had just happened but it would seem not only had he avoided expulsion, but he had made the Gryffindor quidditch team in the process. That didn't add up for him in the slightest, especially when he thought about the fact that it was Professor McGonagall who had allowed him to slip away from punishment. This would take time to process fully, but right now he was just happy he hadn't been expelled.

Once he reached the doors to the great hall, he realized he was still holding Susan's locket tightly clasped in his hand. He should have given it back to Hannah before McGonagall took him away! So he passed the great hall and walked until he found an empty corridor, where he pulled out a certain piece of parchment.

"_**I solemny swear that I am up to no good!**_" he said and the marauders' map appeared.

Scanning the map, he found the dot with the name "Susan Bones" in the Hospital wing. She was sitting in one of the beds and was surrounded by Neville Longbottom, Hannah Abbott and Ernie MacMillian. Harry frowned. Could it be that Susan hadn't woken up yet? She hadn't been uncouncious when he had seen her but she had hit her head. It was possible she had lost conciousness or been put to sleep by the nurse. In any case, he could still leave it at her bedside table, or give it to Hannah to hold for her.

With that thought in mind, he erased the marauders' map and made his way to the Hospital wing. He stopped outside and took a deep breath, wondering what kind of reaction he would get from them. Well, he wouldn't find out unless he went inside so he opened the doors and stepped inside. He spotted group he was looking for in one of the beds furthest away from the door. It would appear that Susan was awake, because her friends were talking to her.

"...and then she just took Harry and walked off. She didn't even reprimand Malfoy for taking your locket!" Hannah finished, obviously upset about what she had been saying.

Harry slowed his steps. Were they talking about him?

"If Harry gets expulsed for that, I will feel so bad. Why did he even bother? It's not like we're friends or anyhting." Susan said.

The three Hufflepuffs turned to Neville, who was also sitting beside Susan's bed. He twisted slightly under their gazes and Harry decided to spare his friend from answering.

"Do you always need a reason to be nice?" he asked as he stepped up to them.

Apparently, they had been so focused on themselves that they hadn't noticed when he had entered. Neville looked grateful that the talking had been taken from his hands while Hannah, Ernie and Susan jumped in their seats and bed, in case of the latter.

"What are you doing here, Harry?" Hannah asked as she got up from her seat.

Harry just smiled at the blonde girl and went over to Susan's bedside. When he held out his hand, Susan seemed to get what he was doing and held out her own just underneath.

"I think this belongs to you. I would have given it to you earlier but I didn't realize I still had it in my hand when McGonagall dragged me off." he said as he dropped the locket in her hand.

Susan took the locket in her hand and looked it over. There was not a scratch on it. For a moment, she just sat there looking at it, before she retracted her arm and held the locket close to her heart and closed her eyes. Harry smiled at her while Hannah watched the interaction with interest. Neville just looked confused and unsure if he really should be there, while Ernie looked at Harry with a respectful look in his eyes.

"Thank you." Susan said at last and opened her eyes to meet Harry's gaze with a grateful smile.

Harry returned the smile and slowly reached inside his own robes, reaching for the chain that was resting around his neck to pull out and show his own locket. The eyes of the other 4 occupants of the wing shot wide at the sight of the similar object, though this one was in some cheaper material that looked like fake silver.

"I know how important one of these can be. They hold a piece of those most precious to us, right?" he said with a sheepish grin before stuffing his own locket back inside his shirt.

For a moment, Susan just stared at Harry's neck where his locket had disappeared, before she shook herself out of it and looked down.

"It contains a picture of my entire family. It was taken shortly before the end of the war, when my parents were still alive. They're dead now." she said in a quiet, trembling voice.

Feeling for his classmate, Harry sat down. She was a victim of the war, just like him. They were alike.

"I know how it feels. My parents died too."

It took a moment for anyone to respond, but when Susan finally gave off a sound, it was one no one had expected. She giggled. The other four stared at her as if she had lost her mind. Harry felt confused. What was so funny?

"Sorry. It's just that, pretty much every single wizard and witch of today know that you lost your parents in the last war Harry." she said in an apologizing way.

Reminded of his fame and that his family history was written down as a childrens tale and in history books all over the world, Harry groaned while Neville, Ernie and Hannah giggled at the exchange. At least the serious mood had lifted from the group.

While she was giggling at Harry's expense, she couldn't help but think about what had just happened. She and Susan had quickly become good friends but when she had asked what was inside the locket, Susan had simply said that it wasn't her business and pleaded for them to change subject. What was inside that locket was very personal for Susan and a very touchy subject, yet she had told Harry without him even asking. Perhaps it was because Harry could relate to her better since he too had lost his parents. After all, Hannah couldn't even imagine what it would be like to grow up without her own parents so how could she try to understand how Susan felt about it?

**-:-:-:-**

When Harry returned to the common room that evening, he was immediately caught by the twins, Fred and George, who congratulated him on making the quidditch team. Next was the team's chaser, Angelina Johnsson, who wanted pretty much the same thing. Soon, they were joined by Angelina's best friend, Alicia Spinnet who also was on the team. Just before Harry left the team to their own plans, Wood joined them and told them that he had decided that Katie Bell, a second year girl, had been chosen to fill the remaining gap in their chaser chain. The girl in question blushed and waved at her new teammates. Feeling relieved that there was someone on the team that was at least just one year older than him, Harry enthusiastically greeted the girl, who smiled at him.

Once the team introductions were done, Wood stated they would have their first training the next tuesday and the team split up. Well, Angelina and Alicia joined Fred and George in a game of exploding snap, but Wood went off to plan out their training schedule and Katie went back to her friends. Harry found Ron and Neville sitting by the fire, playing another game of wizarding chess. He took one look at the board (Neville only had 3 pieces left, out of which one was the king) and then stretched out and tried to stiffle a yawn. Claiming he wanted to get to bed early after an exhausting day, he excused himself and went upstairs. He really did plan on going to bed early, but there was something else he wanted to do first. Sitting down on his bed, he reached inside his robes and pulled out Ginny's letter.

_Dear Harry!_

_Thank you for the sweets! I had to hide them under my bed or mom would probably have confiscated them on sight, but that's alright. I haven't eaten it all yet, though I just had to open one of the Chocolate frog packs to see what card I would get. Turns out I'm stuck with another Morgana. I already got 3 of her. But I'll just keep my fingers crossed that I get something better next time._

_You will never guess what will happen over christmas! Me and my parents are going to visit Charlie in Romania! I have never been to Romania so it will be awesome! I was hoping I could get mom to allow you to come over but she said you can come over summer at least! I really look forward to that!_

_Things have so far been pretty good here actually. Mom have even promised to allow me to try out some cleaning spells if I behave like a good girl and listen to her when she babbles on about who knows what. The point is that I will get to learn something!_

_How are things at Hogwarts? Have my brothers been behaving nicely? I doubt it, but it can't hurt to hope, can it? I hope you are doing alright, despite my brothers. You have to tell me everything that have happened since you got there! Please write soon!_

_You friend,  
Ginny_

Harry smiled as he put away Ginny's letter. It would appear she was doing alright, but still it had only been 3 days. He idly wondered how long it would take for the Magical Menagerie to send the catalogue, but decided there wasn't much he could do to make it faster. With that thought in mind and Thinking about all the things he could write to Ginny the next day, Harry got out of bed and changed into his pyjamas, before slipping back into bed and under the covers and drifting off to a very peaceful sleep.

**-:-:-:-**

When Harry awoke on saturday morning after his first week at his new school, he felt like the last week had been more exciting than his entire life up until that point. So much had happened that he had been worried that when he sent his _very_ long answer to Ginny the day before, Hedwig wouldn't be able to carry it all. She had huffed when he had impied it and taken off in hurry to prove herself as a worthy owl.

Harry had plans for today. He had recieved his catalogue from the Magical Menagerie the day before but been more eager to answer Ginny's letter and finish his potions assignment. Today however, he would be free to do whatever he wanted. Ron would spend the day doing his homework as he had refused to do it when Harry had done his. Dean and Seamus would probably do theirs as well, and Neville had a herbology assignment he had saved for the weekend in order to "really show what he could do". So Harry would have all day for himself. Yawning as he stretched out in his full lenght, he grabbed a towel and made sure to take a shower before he headed down for breakfast.

As usual, he was a little early compared to Ron, who liked to sleep in and Dean and Seamus wasn't any better. With no other boys his age down yet, Harry sat by himself and hummed slightly as he loaded his plate with bacon and fried eggs. He had brought his catalogue with him and was planning on going outside to read it. It was a beautiful day and he was hoping to find a secluded spot where he could think for himself, devoid of anyone elses opinions. As he was finished with his meal, an owl landed in front of him. Frowning at who would send him a letter, he detached the small piece of parchment and read it. It was written in a rather sloppy handwriting.

_Harry,_

_Why don't you come down to my hut down at the grounds for a little talk today?_

_Rubeus Hagrid_

Harry frowned in surprise. Rubeus Hagrid... wasn't that the keeper of keys for Hogwarts? The large man who had guided the first years over the Black lake in boats? What could he possibly want him? Then again, who was he to refuse to talk to him? He had the entire day to pick out a pet for Ginny, he could spare an hour for visiting Hagrid.

With a new destination in mind, Harry got up and exited the great hall. He had learnt the more central parts of the castle fairly good now, after getting the Marauders' map from Severus. He could now find his way down to the Great Hall without the map and he knew how to get to most of his classrooms fairly easy. Ron still had trouble finding his way anywhere except to lunch and dinner without Harry's help. Well, most of the first years still had trouble and Harry hadn't told anyone about the Marauders' map yet. He was thinking about sharing it with Fred and George since Severus had taken it from them originally, but he wasn't sure yet.

So much had happened since he first set foot here at Hogwarts and he had a hard time believing it had only been one week since he first got here. It seemed something new happened every day and that filled him with excitement. Feeling that same excitement bubble in his chest as he went to visit Hogwarts keykeeper for the first time, Harry stepped through the castle gates with a smile on his face.

* * *

**A/N:** _Well, this was quite a bit short than the last chapter. But well, I felt like this was a good place to cut it, or it would have gone on for all eternity. Speaking of that, I actually want your opinion on something:_

_**Question**! So far, my chapter updates have been fairly fast by my standards, which I feel pretty proud of. My chapters have been between 6k and 9k words long, however I have noticed that a lot of the stories I read myself tend to have a lot longer chapters. So my quesiton is: Would you prefer me to keep updating at a decent pace and stick with the 6-9k words or would you like me to draw out the chapters a little to , let's say, 12-14k words but slow down on the updates? Plz leave your opinion in a review._

_Now, I can't speak of reviews without giving a few answers now, can I? I noticed that a lot of the reviews this time were centered around the Marauders' map and I can tell you that yes, Harry will notice Wormtail earlier this time. It never really made sense to me that Fred and George had the map during Harry's first 2 years at school and they never noticed that a thought to be dead man was sleeping in their brother's dorm. Other than that, here comes some review answers:_

**_Harry Ginny and Daphne fan:_**_ Yeah, that's right... I forgot to put up Daphne... Well, I won't lie to you. I did have her in mind but didn't put her up because I didn't feel like she would fit very good in my story, but since you asked I have put her up and she seems to be recieving her fair amount of voters. I am not saying that I wont use her and if she get enough votes, I'll definetely let her get a more central role, but for the time being, that's all I'll promise._

_**ej101**: Well, yeah I will let Harry make additions to the Marauders' map but there are a few things that will make it difficult to put up your suggestions. The Room of Requirement changes to fit the users needs, thus it doesn't have a physical form that can be sketched into the map. The rooms magic simply prevents it to be put on a map because it constantly changes its appearance. The Chamber of Secrets might be added once they discover it, but the problem there is that it is located far below the school and thus he would need to make an entire new level/floor for the map to include the chamber._

_**sisno2200**: You lazy ass! I really should tell Hermione about this... she have been trained to handle lazy ppl by the best (Ron...)! Jokes aside, The Bat-Bogey is classified as a hex, not a curse, though I barely see the difference. Now, enough of my repirmanding. I'm glad you liked the secret passageway I added. It just came on a whim and I thought "why the heck not?" so I went with it. Glad someone liked it! =)_

**_Lora Palmer:_**_ I think she did mention Luna as an alternative for a playmate in one earlier chapter? Well, anyway she will definetely play with Luna a little but as I said, Molly Weasley thinks the Lovegoods with their weird views on things are a bad influence on her daughter so she will try to minimum their meetings. But ah well, Ginny never was one to take orders without a fight..._

_**debygoebel**: Yeah, that will be a change. As you can see in this chapter, Harry is very eager to make friends with everyone who isn't a blonde, spoiled brat and have the surname "Malfoy". So you will have your wish fulfilled, he will make more friends than Ron._

**_marinka:_**_ I can't reveal my plans for it now without spoiling the surprise, but let's just say I got most of it worked out by now. On another note, glad you think I did a good job with Hogwarts._

**_RebeccaRoy:_**_ Haha, I don't think Cissy will be too hard on her precious little Draco... I have however been juggling with the idea of making Malfoy-is-pulled-in-the-ear-by-Sinistra an reoccurring event, so that once in a while, he will get his punishment when his head of house catches him. I'm still not sure, but its a fun thought to think of._

**_Crystal R. Black:_**_ Well, good thing you found my story! And well, technically the thing that originally went different was that Hagrid got the the Potter Estate before Snape. In canon, Harry was still sleeping in his crib when Snape was crying over Lily, at least in the movie. So if you want to make it down to a single change of event, that was the first thing that went differently._

**_Cosmyk Angel:_**_ Yeah, that is a thought that have struck me as well. Nothing in the books really said that it wasn't how Rowling had it work, but on the other hand, they definetely bought new books for Ginny when she started, as her cauldron had some books packed in it when Lucius sneaked the diary into it. Nevertheless, they will do that in this story, though something tells me they will still need to get e sht load of books for second year...*cough* Lockhart *cough*! =D_

_PHEW! Think that is the most reviews I've answered in one chapter ever! Then again, last chapter did draw most reviews of all chapters! =)_

_Now, I really don't have anything else to say, other than thanks for reading and I hope you ha a good time! And don't forget to leave your opinion on chapters length if you plan to review! See you soon!_


	8. Hermione's Shell

**A/N: **_Hello there! Here I am, with yet another update, the longest so far! I won't keep you waiting, I'll just let you go ahead and read! =)_

_When this is posted, 33 people have voted in my poll on who Harry should befriend during his first year. The current top 10 is as follows:_

_1. Fred and George Weasley, 24 votes (10%)_

_2. Neville Longbottom, 23 votes (10%)_

_3. Hermione Granger, 21 votes (9%)_

_4. Cedric Diggory, 20 votes (9%)_

_5. Daphne Greengrass, 17 votes (7%)_

_6. Susan Bones, 14 votes (6%)_

_7. Katie Bell, 14 votes (6%)_

_8. Ronald Weasley, 13 votes (5%)_

_9. Blaise Zabini, 12 votes (5%)_

_10. Padma Patil / Oliver Wood, 9 votes (4%)_

_I'm not sure if so many more people will vote, but I'll keep it open for a little while longer, just in case. Now, I think that was all so let's get to the story!_

**Disclaimer: **Don't own this stuff. Only own my own spells used in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter Eight: **Hermione's shell

Harry felt the early fal sun caress his face as he made his way towards the little hut on the school grounds, just outside of the Forbidden Forest. For an autumn morning, it was unusually warm and he couldn't help but gasp at the scene in front of him. The sun was just rising over the forest, casting an magnificent glow over the grounds. The sky was almost clear and the quiet and peaceful aura that rested over the grounds made Harry feel at ease. It had been an intense week with a lot of new things. Exciting of course, but intense.

Walking down towards the hut, Harry couldn't help but wonder about what Hagrid could possibly want to talk to him about. He had only met the man once and though he had seemed friendly enough, they really hadn't talked to each other yet. Well, only one way to find out, he thought as he knocked on the door of the small hut. The door swung open, revealing the large man standing in... a pink apron.

"Ah, Harry! Nice to see ya 'gain. Come in!" Hagrid smiled as he stepped aside to let the young boy into his house.

Harry stepped inside, still trying not to laugh at the sight of the large, hard-looking man in the pink apron. It just... didn't seem to fit in with the rest of his wardrobe, but somehow, seeing that put him at ease. Anyone who could wear a pink apron and not regard it as embarrassing probably didn't mean any harm. The hut was larger inside than it looked like from the outside. There was only one room inside that contained everything from a bed to a very large table. In one corner, a large dog was sleeping with its head on its front paws.

Upon invitation from Hagrid, Harry sat down by the table while Hagrid went over to a tea kettle that was hanging over a fire.

"Want sum tea, Harry?" he asked as he removed the kettle and brought it over to pour himself a very large cup of tea, the size of which Harry would call a bucket rather than a cup.

Despite that he had just had breakfast and didn't really feel like drinking or eating anything, Harry accepted the cup that was offered and too a zip. It wasn't too bad, but it was still a little hot seeing as it came directly from within the flames of Hagrid's fireplace so he decided to put it down to let it cool off. When Hagrid had put down the kettle and taken off his apron, he sat down opposite to Harry and offered him a smile through his beard.

"Merlin, I haven't seen you up close since ya were a baby Harry, but ya sure have grown. You look a lot like your father." he said to try and start up a conversation. "Except the eyes of course. You got your mothers eyes." he added when he got a closer look up close.

At the mention of his parents, Harry felt something turn in his chest and suddenly, this meeting had a whole new meaning for him.

"You knew my parents?" he asked with a shocked expression on his face.

Hagrid laughed at the face Harry made. Harry felt his cheeks redden slightly at his own reaction, but didn't say anything. It didn't take long for Hagrid to calm down and he offered Harry a kind smile.

"Did I know 'em? I sure did. From school and onwards. They were among the most gifted students of their time here at Hogwarts." Hagrid went on to explain how Harry's father was the worst troublemaker Hogwarts had ever seen and went on to state that even the Weasley twins would pale in comparison.

Harry was mesmerized to hear about his parents and listened intently, asking questions whenever he had any. Hagrid told him about his fathers many pranks and how he got to know him, how many times he had to chase away James Potter from the Forbidden Forest and how James had constantly tried to get the attention of one certain Lily Evans.

He was also told about his mother, the "brightest witch of her age". Her many accomplishments while still in school had Harry wide eyed and suddenly he felt like he had a lot to live up to. Hagrid just laughed when he stated he would need to step up his studying and reminded him that his father, while gifted unlike anyone his age, had been the exact opposite of his mother, always ending up in detention. He told Harry how his mother had kept James at arms length for 6 years before she finally gave in and admitted that he wasn't half bad and the two began dating.

The two were so caught up in their discussion that time just flew by and before they knew it, it was lunch time. Harry was shocked to find that he had spent no less than 4 hours talking to Hagrid. Thanking him sincerily for the tea and the good time and all the memories of his parents, Harry bid Hagrid good bye and made his way back up to the castle with a promise that they should have another talk like this sometime.

When he entered the Great Hall, Harry immediately spotted Ron, Dean and Seamus sitting by the Gryffindor table, looking as if someone had died. He chuckled for himself, pretty sure what their mood was about, and made his way over. As soon as he was withing range, even Ron abandonned his food and turned to him with a pleading look.

"I can't take this anymore! Please Harry, I'm begging you! Let me check your notes for the potions essay!" he pleaded.

Harry took a step back and held up his hands, as to indicate that he was putting up a wall between them.

"Oh, no, I don't think so! I asked if you wanted to do it with me during the week but you thought it was more fun to pound Neville in wizarding chess. You got only yourself to blame."

Ron looked like a caged animal, desperate to find its way out of his cage. He looked around for anyone who could possibly help him with his homework and his face shone up when he spotted a brown, bushy haired witch enter the the hall. He quickly stood up and made his way over towards Hermione.

_"Oh boy, this is going to get ugly."_ Harry thought with dread.

Hermione looked wary when she spotted Ron making his way towards her and she had a right to. Ron came to a stop in front of her and quickly blurted out:

"Please let me copy your notes for the potions essay!" Ron pleaded, before he stopped dead in his tracks and a look of horror overcame his face as he realized what he had just said.

Seeing that Hermione's face was turning red, Harry decided he did not want to be part of this and quickly made his way over to where Dean and Seamus was sitting just as he heard Hermione's upset and irritated voice start to reprimand Ron for his irresponsilibility.

"How are you doing guys?" he asked as he sat down with his friends.

Both Dean and Seamus looked up at him with a pained look. That was all he needed to know. They weren't fairing much better than Ron. Or well, at least they were still sane enough not to ask Hermione to outright "copy" her notes.

"I just don't get how you can already be done with this stuff?" Dean said, hoping to get some trick out of Harry for getting his homework done.

Harry just grinned at his friends.

"Well, I did it during the week while you guys were playing Wizarding chess with Ron. That's how." he said with a smirk on his face.

Seamus groaned at being reminded of the chess rounds they had taken, trying to beat Ron. Harry just smirked at his friend and began loading his plate. Ron rejoined them a little while later, red in the face from his argument with Hermione and Harry had a feeling the bushy haired girl would spend a lot of time in the library today. That was where Hermione seemed to go whenever she felt any stronger emotions. If she felt happy, she went to the library. If she felt confused or frustrated about something, she went to the library. And if she felt angry about something, she went to the library. He had joined her there once during the week, to see what she was doing but she was mostly studying. It was as if she had locked herself away and only cared for schoolwork. Harry thought that was a pity, because he was sure she could become a great friend if she just opened up a little. Then again, he thought pretty much anyone would be a great friend, as long as their surnames didn't start with "Mal" and end with "foy".

Lunch was soon finished and Ron, Dean and Seamus stalked back towards the common room to try and finish their homework. Harry waited by the table for a moment, thinking over what he could do with the rest of the day. He could fo course go outside and find a secluded spot as he had originally planned, but on second thought, perhaps he should drop by the library to see if he could get Hermione to open up a little. She couldn't possibly have homework to do, as Harry was finished with his and Hermione _always_ did her homework at first possible occasion. Then again, perhaps Hermione could help _him _to pick out a pet for Ginny? She was a girl after all, and Harry wasn't sure what girls really liked. And Hermione wouldn't go talking about it with someone else so he wouldn't risk that it would reach Ron's ears.

Deciding it was a good idea, Harry stood up and headed towards the library. He had visited the library a few times during the past week and felt pretty sure about how to get there by now and sure enough, 10 minutes and only one wrong turn later he stood in front of the wooden doors. As soon as he entered the library, he felt the peaceful atmosphere engulf him. Perhaps Hermione wasn't completely mental for spending time here, though he still thought she could probably do with a few more hours outside of the library. He immediately took to searching through the rows of books and it didn't take him long to spot the bushy haired witch, sitting by herself in a corner, surrounded by a mountain of books.

"Hermione?" Harry asked as he made his way over to her.

The girl seemed to jump at being spoken to and looked up from what she was reading with a frantic look. Seeing the worried expression on her face, Harry frowned. Had he done something wrong?

"What do you want Harry?" she asked with an undertone of uneasiness in her voice.

"I just thought you might be able to help me with something." he said as he came to a stop in front of the desk she was sitting by.

At this, Hermione's eyes narrowed in suspicion. Harry frowned once more, as he once again wondered if he had done anything that could have upset her.

"If you want me to do your homework, then don't bother asking because I won't do it!" she hissed in an annoyed voice.

Harry raised an eyebrow. Was she still upset about that? Without thinking, he moved away some of the books on her table and sat down, ignoring the look she gave him. It would appear she did not appreciate that he had moved her precious books.

"Don't worry, I've been done with my homework since Thursday."

Seeing Hermione's confused look, he tried to give her a reassuring smile but instead of calming her down, he had the opposite effect. Without warning, Hermione's face took on a fierce look, like a wild animal backed into a corner, and she hastily stood up.

"Then why are you talking to me?! Nobody talks to me, unless they want me to do their homework!" she shrieked with a hurt voice.

Before he could say anything to try and understand what she was talking about, Hermione had grabbed the books that was her own and run off. Confused like never before, Harry stood up and hurried after her. What had he done wrong? When he reached the exit, he stopped for a second to consider which way Hermione could have taken. After deciding to find a secluded spot to look for her at the Marauders' Map, Harry took off to the right, while trying to figure out why she had become so upset. That look in her eyes... he was sure he had seen it somewhere before, on someone else. And what she had said... "Nobody talks to me, unless they want me to do their homework"...

Harry kept pondering this until he found an empty classroom, which he entered. He was just about to pull out the map when the window caught his eye. The room was shadowed so he could see his own reflection clearly. And then it hit him. That look in her eyes... he had seen it in his reflection when he was younger! When he was still going to primary school, no one had ever talked to him, unless they wanted to tease him or get him to do something for them. The look in Hermione's eyes had been the same, the same sense of loneliness and distrust.

"_Yeah, that would make sense." _Harry thought. Hermione was a muggleborn. She had gone to primary school, just like him. And if she was as studios and cold as she had been this far at Hogwarts back then, then it wouldn't surprise him if she didn't have many friends. Could that be it?

Thinking he better talk to her before jumping to conclussions, Harry pulled out the Marauders' map to check for Hermione's dot. He found her sitting under an oak tree that was situated on the school grounds. He waited a moment to see if she would move again, but it would seem she had settled down so he put away the map and lef the classroom.

10 minutes later, Harry found Hermione's little spot. She was leaning against the trunk of the oak tree, reading a book on charms. She seemed calm enough, but the wet marks on her cheeks suggested she had been crying, strengthening Harry's belief that she felt lonely and distrusted her peers because of something that had happened in Primary school.

"Hermione?"

Upon hearing her name being called, Hermione flinched and when she saw Harry standing there, watching her, she immediately moved to put away her book and make another run for it, but before she could stand up, Harry ahd moved over and grabbed her by the arm.

"Hermione please, I just want to talk." he said, trying to reassure her that he meant no harm.

The girl struggled for a second to get free of his grip, but gave up without much of a fight. When he was sure she wouldn't make a run for it, Harry let go of her arm. After a few intense moments, Hermione looked up a Harry with a guarded look in her eyes.

"How did you find me?"

Harry sighed with relief that she hadn't run away again and sat down beside her.

"How I found you is not important. But tell me Hermione, did you have any friends before you came here to Hogwarts?"

Upon hearing his question, Hermione seemingly tensed up and immediately looked away, in a poorly hidden attempt to avoid meetin Harry's gaze. But Harry kept his eyes stubbornly fixed on her and after a few seconds she answered:

"What are you talking about? I had lots of friends!" she said but her voice was trembling.

Feeling for the poor girl, Harry reached out with one hand and put in comfortingly on her shoulder. Hermione flinched at the contact and was so surprised that she turned to face him in shock. Her eyes were thick with moisture. She was close to tears. Harry took a moment to consider his words. This was a very sore subject and if he didn't tred carefully, he could cause Hermione to completely break down.

"Well, that's brilliant. I wish I had luck like that." he said, causing Hermione's tearful expression to mix in with confusion, but Harry tried to ingore her. "While I was in primary school, I never had any real friends. The only time when people spoke to me was when they were teasing me or wanted me to do something for them."

He cast a sidelong glance at Hermione, whose shocked expression told him that his words were reaching her. Harry felt like he wanted to say more, but something held him back now. Something told him that if this was to go the way he wanted it to, he would need to let Hermione push the subject from here. He didn't want to force it upon her. Well, at least not more than he already had.

"T-then how come you g-got so many friends now?" Hermione whispered. Her voice was still trembling, as if she was afraid that Harry would begin laughing at her for asking. But at the same time, Harry could make out a small hint of curiosity below her trembles. She wanted to know how he had made friends. She wanted to know why they had become so different, despite having what appeared to be similar backgrounds.

"Well, I think it started the day I went to Diagon Alley. Uncle Sev had just told me I was famous and anyone we met just wanted me to shake their hand because of it." Harry began, thinking back to that day. "I admit I was starting to feel like I would never find someone who would just like me for who I was. But then I met someone who did. Someone who became my friend because of who I am, not because I could do their homework or because I am mentioned in _The Rise and Fall of the Dark arts_."

Here, Harry made a pause to see if Hermione was still with him. He was pleased to see that the brown haired girl was giving him her undivided attention.

"Her name was Ginny Weasley. She... well, she was a little shocked upon learning my full name, but she didn't seem to let it get to her. We became friends and have been corresponding ever since. I met her again at Platform 9 3/4 when she accompanied her family to see off her brothers and she was still just happy to see me, not to see _The_ Harry Potter. After I got to know her, I realized that there was a lot more to her than I first thought. And that had me thinking."

Once more, Harry paused to allow Hermione to process all he had said. The tears that had formed in her eyes no longer threatened to spill over and she wasn't trembling as much. Her mind seemed to be working in overdrive to process all that he had said so far.

"I couldn't really expect people to like me for who I was, because I never showed them who I really was. So when I came to Hogwarts, I began trying to just be myself, not some celebrity or someone you ask for homework."

At this, Hermione flinched. At the mention of "someone you ask for homework", she finally put together that Harry had seen right through her. "_Took her long enough."_ Harry thought. Well, at least he could go straight to the point now.

"If you want someone to be a real friend to you, then you will need to let go of your fear of failure. Some people will not like you for who you are, but not all of us are like that. Look at me, do I look like I am sitting here because I want you to do some homework for me that I don't even have?"

Hermione bit her lower lip as she looked Harry over. He hadn't brought any school books with him and so far, he hadn't even asked for her help in schoolwork specifically. And out of all her classmates, Harry had so far proven to be the most knowledgable besides herself. She had even seen him reading through his books in the common room while his friends played chess and he was waiting for his turn. If someone in their class wouldn't need her help, it would be him.

"Was I that obvious?" she whispered as her cheeks heated up a little with embarrassment as she thought about how easy he had seen through her.

"Nah, I wouldn't say obvious. I had no idea this was why you were so distant towards the rest of us until your outburst in the library and even then, it was just because I recognized the look in your eyes from my own reflection." he said with a cheeky grin as he scratched the back of his head.

Hermione tried to dry her tears from her eyes with her sleeve and looked at Harry, who was just sitting beside her. He seemed so carefree. It was hard to believe he would have had no friends before he came to Hogwarts. It just didn't add up in her mind. But perhaps... perhaps that was what made it so intriguing? Somewhere deep inside her, a sparkle of hope had been ignited by Harry's speech. Perhaps... he was right. Perhaps, she really could have friends?

"Uhm, H-Harry?" she asked, suddenly a little nervous about what she was about to ask.

"Hm?"

"How do you know when you meet a real friend?" she asked, feeling her cheeks redden in embarrasment.

Harry blinked at her in surprise, but then his face took on a thoughtful look. How did he know who was a real friend? Well, to be honest, he wasn't sure if all the ones he currently called friend was real friends, just that so far, they hadn't done anything to imply something else.

"I don't think that is something you can know before you get to know them. I guess you will pick up on it after a while. But you can't make any friends unless you try so you got to start somewhere, right?" he said, hoping it explained what he was feeling.

Apparently, it did because Hermione nodded her head in thought. Harry did seem honest when he said he didn't want to talk to her about homework. But he had said himself that he had not known why she was so distant before her outburst in the library so what had be wanted to talk about back then?

"Soo, what was it you wanted my help for back in the library?" she asked.

Harry looked at her with a raised eyebrow for a second before his face lit up and he held up what looked like a product catalogue from the Magical Menagerie.

"I was going to ask for your opinion on this." he said.

Now it was Hermione's turn to raise an eyebrow. What was he getting at? When he saw her confused look, he grinned cheekily and set to explain his situation.

"You see, Ginny is all alone at home now that Ron have started Hogwarts and I was thinking of giving her a pet so she have someone to play with, but I'm not sure what she would like. I'm not really into what girls like and dislike so I thought you could help me out." he said.

Hermione blinked in surprise that Harry would come to her for something like this. That definetely didn't add up in her mind. Then again, right now nothing about Harry added up in her mind at the moment.

"Ginny is Ron's little sister? Then why don't you ask him? Or any of their brothers?" she asked, suspicion sneaking its way into her voice. She didn't mean for it to, it just did. After all these years, it was hard for her to trust other people her age.

"Yeah, that might have been an alternative but I don't feel like asking Percy because he might send Hermes, his owl, to "warn" their mother, who would never accept charity like that. The twins is out of the picture because I wouldn't be able to stand the teasing they would give me for it and Ron... well, for some reason we always end up arguing with each other whenever it comes to Ginny." Harry said as a way of explanation.

Hermione seemed to buy it, though she kept on looking at him with a studying gaze, as if trying to find any sign of dishonesty. When she was satisfied that he hadn't shown any, she offered him a smile.

"Well, I'm not much more of a girly girl than Professor McGonagall, but I'll try." she said.

Harry, glad that she seemed to at least try to open up a little, smiled back and moved closer so the catalogue could rest between them. The two began to scroll through the pages, stopping occasionally to discuss pros and cons with a certain animal and what Ginny probably would think about that as a pet. Harry felt that the longer they talked, the more Hermione seemed to open up. She was still a little vague with her opinion on things, but at least it was a start.

Meanwhile, Hermione cast a glance at Harry now and then when he was leaned forward to get a closer look at a certain pet. He appeared to genuily care for Ginny and also seemed to hold her own opinion in high regard, as whenever she said something, he leant back to think about it and then would say what he thought about what she had said. The hope that had been ignited in Hermione's chest grew the longer they talked. For the first time since she was a child, Hermione Granger felt like maybe she really could find real friends.

**-:-:-:-**

While Harry and Hermione was sitting outside in the afternoon sun, looking for a pet that would fit Harry's best friend, Severus Snape was hurrying through the corridors of the castle towards the Forbidden Corridor on the third floor. As soon as they had set up the protections for the Philosopher's stone, Severus had made sure to set up yet another protection in secret. Without even Albus knowledge, he had rigged a magical alarm system to go off in his office if someone tried to sneak into the corridor. And what do you know? It just went of!

There was of course a chance that it was Hagrid who had come to feed that damn dog, but somehow, Severus thought that was not the case. There was one other person he had seen, sneaking around that door and that was coincidently the person he had found to behave mostly out of character for all of his colleagues: Quirinus Quirell. The man had taught Muggle Studies before he had gone off to "see the world", as he put it but back then, he had been a confident young man. Now, he was stuttering every second word and he was also always wearing that turban of his, something he hadn't done before he went on his journey.

Turning around a corner, Severus spotted the man in question, standing by the door that led into the corridor in question.

"Quirell!" he shouted as he slowed down to stand a few feet away.

Quirell jumped high in the air and landed on his butt. It actually looked really comical. A little _too_ comical. The nervwreck of a Professor looked up with a frightened expression at the man who had shouted at him and began pushing his hands together in a nervous gesture.

"S-S-Severus. W-w-what b-brings-s y-you to t-this p-p-part of the c-castle?" Quirell stuttered.

That stuttering! It was driving Severus crazy and he had only had to deal with it for a week now! Already irritated at the stuttering, Severus refrained from answering and simply reached out with his legilimency to try and see what Quirell's intentions was and found... nothing. Somehow, he didn't find anything when he tried searching Quirell's mind. It was as if the stuttering Professor didn't have a mind, or maybe just didn't have anything stored in it. But that certainly didn't add up. The man he had known a few years ago hadn't been brain dead. Quite the opposite in fact. Could this be some kind of occlumency shield then? But he had never seen anything like this before. An Occlumency shield usually focused around building a barrier _around _your thoughts and memories so that the intruder would be met with resistance when he tried to enter their mind.

"I was just... walking by and got curios as to what you were up to?" Severus replied slowly, studying his colleague for any sign or out of place reaction.

"M-m-me? I-I j-just thought I sh-should c-check o-on the s-s-stone. N-no o-o-one has c-checked on i-it since i-it got p-placed there a-a-after a-all."

Severus narrowed his eyes. Sure, Quirell had become a nervous wreck but he couldn't seriously believe that the line of protection that had been placed by himself, Severus, Hagrid, Sinistra, McGonagall, Vector, Sprout, Flitwick, Kettleburn and Albus himself would be broken so easily? And without anyone noticing on top of that! There must be a hidden motive here.

"You're lying." he stated as he stared down Quirell.

The man in question covered under his intense gaze.

"N-no I s-s-swear! I j-just w-w-wanted to m-make sure i-it was a-alright!" he stuttered out.

Severus was just about to retort when another person joined their little conversation.

"What's going on here?" came the voice of Albus Dumbledore just as the famous wizard turned around the corner Severus had come from.

As the impressive form of Dumbledore closed in on them, Quirell finally found the courage to stumble to his feet. As Dumbledore stopped in front of them, Quirell seemed to try and stand in attention, causing Severus to further suspect that something was going on here.

"H-headmaster! I-I j-j-just thought I s-should c-check on t-the s-s-stone i-in c-c-case s-s-something h-had h-happened to t-t-the de-defenses." Quirell said in a high pitched voice.

Albus raised an eyebrow, scarcely similar to how Severus had done it just a few moments ago.

"I can assure you, my dear Quirinus, that the stone is perfectly safe as long as the defenses remain untouched." Albus said as he studied his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. When none of his teachers said anything, he continued. "If that was all, I would like a word with you, Severus. Please come join me in my office."

And with that, he was on his way again. Severus looked after him, before casting Quirell one last intense look, and then followed the headmaster. The two old friends walked in silence before they reached the Gargoyle statue, to which Albus gave the password and began climbing the stairs. As soon as they were inside the office however, Severus fixed Albus with a questioning but hard glare.

"You know something is up! He's been strange ever since he got back from Albania!" he exclaimed when Albus turned to face him.

His old friend studied him for a moment before he gave answer to Severus question.

"Something is up with Quirinus. He was fine when he went to Albania and strange when he got back. Coincidently, Albania is the country where Lord Voldemort was last spotted." he said, calm as always.

It took a moment for Severus to process what it was Albus was implying but when he did, he felt his blood run cold at the thought that hit him. At the same time, it also filled him with a mix of fear, anger and shock.

"Are you suggesting that Quirelll... that Quirell is ensnared by Voldemort?!" Severus almost shouted, feeling his blood run cold at the thought of his former master.

Dumbledore held up a hand to try and calm him down and, regardless of how angry Severus got at the thought that Dumbledore would be willing to _knowingly_ let any man who could possibly be an assailant of Lord Voldemort anywhere near the students, Severus did shut his mouth.

"I am saying that it is too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence. While I am not sure he have been "ensnared" as you describe it, I believe that Voldemort is somehow connected to the change that have occured in Quirinus since two years ago."

This got Severus thinking. If Quirell had been in contact with Voldemort, then there was a chance that he had somehow become manipulated by the dark lord and if that was the case, that would explain the strange emptiness in his mind. But an emptiness like that would only occur if...

"He is possessed." Severus said out loud.

Dumbledore looked up at his exclaimation with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.

"What makes you think that?"

"When I tried to penetrate his mind, I couldn't find any concious thought or memory in his mind. It was almost as if he was dead. It didn't make sense to me back then, but if he is possessed, then it would because then I would have been looking in the wrong mind." he explained his theory.

Hearing what his potions master had in mind and contemplating the likelyhood that it was true, Albus had to admit that it didn't sound too farfetched. For now, he would let it slide that Severus had tried to invade the mind of one of his Professors. Because even though all of them were skilled in magic and had at least basic knowledge of occlumency, none of them could meassure up to Severus, especially not in a fight between minds. To be honest, Severus could probably give even himself a run from his money when it came to legilimency.

"That is a most interesting theory, Severus. And I have to admit that it does make a lot of sense."

Seeing that Albus seemed to accept his trail of thought, Severus was quick to put forth his next thought.

"If that is the case, then we need to get rid of him and quick. We cannot allow someone who have any kind of connection to Voldemort to be near the students!" he said, his voice rising as he thought about Harry. Voldemort, no matter what state he was in, would still be Voldemort and as long as he hadn't lost his memories, Harry would have one big target mark on him because of the prophecy.

"Ah Severus. If that is the case, then we have all the reasons to keep him close." Dumbledore said as he sat down behind his desk.

Severus couldn't believe his ears. Shocked that Dumbledore would willingly let that... that... _abomination_, be near the students, least of all Harry, he walked up to the desk and leant forwards so his palms rested on the desk.

"What do you mean? We can't knowingly put the students in danger like that!"

Dumbledore once again held up a hand to silence his old friend. Why did he even shut up just because he raised his hand? It was just stupid!

"If Voldemort really is possessing Quirinus, then we would be better off to keep him as close as possible. If we send him away, there is no telling what he might do, but if we can keep him here, then we will be able to keep an eye on him."

Thinking about what he had just been told, Severus stood back again. It did make sense in a way... but still, to allow the most dangerous dark wizard of all times to stay in a school... let alone allow his puppet teach the students...

"That's a dangerous game you're playing, Dumbledore." he said with a hard gaze fixed on the headmaster.

Albus tensed, hearing that Severus had used his surname. He hadn't done that since the end of the war, and even then he only did it when they were in a really serious situation or discussing an incredibly serious matter. Just hearing him use the name again caused Albus to think twice about his descision and, thinking twice, it really was a gamble. Especially with Harry present at Hogwarts. Who knew what Voldemort would do if he got alone with Harry? Hopefully, he still wasn't strong enough to kill him, but just the thought of them facing each other again so soon sent shivers down his spine. Then again, if he was sent away, chances were he would look for another way to become strong again and succeed.

"I know... We will need to keep a very close eye on him." he stated firmly.

**-:-:-:-**

"Then what about that one?" Hermione said as she pointed at a small cat-like creature in the catalogue.

Harry leant forward to read what the catalogue said about the creature in question.

_Unnamed  
_3_ months old part kneazle. Male. Playful and likes to chew on the customers' shoelaces. We have also found that he appears unusually intelligent, as we have found him constantly finding new ways to break into the shop's cookie jar, no matter where we hide it. _

The part-kneazle looked like a small, black kitten. The kitten was playing with a ball of yarn absentmindly while its big, green eyes looked around and seemed to take in all of its surroundings, even those outside of the photo. It seemed to be nice enough and it was a good thing that it was playful, as that probably would mean that it would be more than willing to play with Ginny. And the fact that it was yet to be named also sounded good to Harry, as that meant Ginny would get to name it herself.

"Yeah, actually that one does seem good. But I was originally thinking about giving her an owl, because they are more handy to have." Harry admitted.

Hermione nodded her head in thought.

"Well, I can understand what you are saying, but you already got Hedwig to send messages between you two, no need for another one. And I have noticed that it is always the same owl that leaves mail to Ron, Fred and George so I asked Percy about it and he said they got a family owl. And of course, Percy has his own owl Hermes, which he told me about when I asked him about the family owl. On top of that, I have read about kneazles and they can be quite handy pets. They are believed to have a natural ability to know who is trustworthy and who is not."

Harry frowned as that was a lot to take in, but in the end only parts of what she said actually stuck with him: that the Weasleys had a family owl, that Hedwig already did all the letter carrying between him and Ginny, and that kneazles could be handy pets. That was all he needed to know.

"Well, I think you may be right about that. I guess we won't find any better. I'll go with it. What's its number?" he asked as he accepted the parchment and quill Hermione gave him.

Harry wrote a quick note about where he wanted to little pet to be delivered while Hermione searched the register for the product number (if you could call it that) for the little part-kneazle cat they had decided on. When they were done, he asked Hermione for another piece of parchment so he could write a quick note for Ginny to be delivered along with the part kneazle, so she wouldn't become confused about who sent it or think it had been delivered to the wrong person. Hermione happily supplied him with what he asked for and soon enough, the two were on their way towards the owlery (as Hedwig was at the Burrow at the moment).

"I've never actually been to this part of the castle before." Hermione said as she surveyed the large tower where all the school owls had their nest.

Opening the door to the tower and stepping aside to let Hermione in, Harry thought about it for a moment.

"Perhaps you should start write to your parents and give them weekly updates about what you're up to here? I'm sure they would be happy to know how you were doing. And it would give you something to do when you are done with all the homework for the week." Harry suggested as he called down a large barn owl from its perch.

Hermione seemed to think about it seriously while Harry attached the two letters and gave the owl clear instructions on what to do. When the owl nodded its head in understanding, Harry went over to the window and threw it out.

"You know, I might just do that. Thanks for the idea Harry!" she said happily, as the two of them made their way down for dinner.

Dinner had been a somber event. Ron kept shooting Harry angry looks, which according to Neville was because he felt betrayed that Harry wouldn't let him copy his notes. Hermione looked like she wanted to remark on that, but a shake of the head from Harry got her to keep her mouth shut. After dinner, Harry, Hermione, Neville and Ron was about to head back to the Gryffindor tower when they were, once again, confronted by Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Hey there, _Scarface!_" Malfoy spat as he, Crabbe and Goyle blocked the path towards the stairs.

Ron scowled at Malfoy's new nickname for Harry. They seemed to become less and less attractive.

"What is it now, blondie?" Harry retorted in a tired voice.

Malfoy growled slightly at Harry's nickname, but shook his head to let it slide for now. Instead, his face took on that all too irritating smug grin they were so used to seeing by now.

"Think you are so tough? Then why don't we just find out who's the toughest of us?" he sneered as he held up his wand, though he didn't point it at anyone.

Harry raised an eyebrow, while his friends settled for just glaring that the blonde boy in front of them. They figured Harry would handle this.

"I thought we already did, after all the times you have run away with your tail between your legs?"

At this, Ron couldn't help but snicker at Malfoy's expense and the boy in question looked furious.

"Just because I don't want to get dragged off by the ear again doesn't mean I can't be tough when I want to. So what do you say, Potter? A Wizard's duel at midnight? Oh, of course you don't know what a wizard's duel is!" he sneered.

Harry, who had been taught quite a bit about how dueling went by Severus, was just about to retort when, surprisingly, Hermione cut in to his defense.

"Of course he knows what it is. I'm his second. Who's yours?" she said as she stepped forward to stand beside Harry.

At this, Harry was about to raise an eyebrow but quickly hid it. He couldn't remember appointing Hermione his second, not to mention he seriously doubted Malfoy could kill him or even disarm him. Malfoy looked like he wanted to clamp down on Hermione, but withheld his insult, seeing as he had gotten what he asked for. He looked behind him at Crabbe and Goyle, who both were pretty inadept at magic, but sort of made up for it with muscles.

"Crabbe." he said at last. "Meet us in the Trophy room by midnight."

And with that, he was gone. Harry glanced at Hermione from the corner of his eye as she glared after Malfoy.

"You're not seriously thinking of going, are you?" he asked.

Hermione turned her gaze away from the retreating back of the blonde and looked Harry in the eye. Harry was slightly taken aback by the look in her eyes. They were filled with determination, and not the sort he had seen during potions class, but a fierce determination. She looked like a whole new Hermione compared to the one he had been talking with about finding true friends just this afternoon. It would seem she had taken his advice of being herself to heart.

"Of course I am! Someone has got to put him in his place!" she said with a determined voice.

Ron and Neville just stared at the new and reformed Hermione, their gaps hanging open. This was definetely something they had never expected from the bushy haired girl.

"You do know that it is a big chance he is just having us on, right?" Harry pointed out as he began walking again, his friends following close behind.

"I know! But it's worth taking the chance to shut Malfoy up once and for all!" Hermione said as she fell into a step beside Harry.

"Who are you and what have you done to Hermione Granger?" Ron asked dumbstruck.

Hermione ignored him and began talking with Harry about spells he might be able to use against Malfoy during the duel, many of which he had already heard about but never tried to perform. The two struck up a discussion about which spells would be most effective, if you took into account how hard they were to cast and what effect they would have if cast correctly. When they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, they had agreed that the Stinging Hex, _Aculeus, _would be the most effective. Harry had read about it in _The Standard book of Spells_ and from what he had read, it didn't require much power to simply cast and should be easy enough to perform. He had never used it though, neither had Hermione so they set about to discuss the theory around it. They didn't want to try casting it in the common room. It might get them some unwanted attention.

While they were doing this, Ron and Neville had sat down to play a game of chess. Neville was starting to get better, but he was still no match for Ron. The common room was getting more empty by the minute and when the clock showed 11.30, it was only the four of them left. Harry and Hermione rose from their seats and began making their way over towards the portrait hole when Ron and Neville also rose.

"You're coming with us?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ron grinned.

"I wouldn't miss this for all the galleons in the world! Malfoy getting his spoiled ass beaten!" he said enthusiastically.

Harry thought about pointing out once again that chances were that Malfoy was just having them on, but if it hadn't caused Hermione to waver her descision, he doubted it would Ron. He instead turned to Neville, who appeared to be a little nervous all of a sudden.

"W-well I think I can learn something by watching you." he mumbled as he followed them out of the common room.

The foursome was able to make their way through the dark corridors without much obstacle and was soon standing in the Trophy room. They took shelter in one of the corners so they wouldn't be spotted if someone decided to check in here. The minutes passed by. The minutes grew into a quarter, then into half an hour. When the clock was showing 12:30, Harry turned to Hermione again.

"I told you, he is not coming."

Just as he said it, they heard the doors creak open on the other side of the room. Harry turned back around to see if it was Malfoy, but he soon stopped, dead in his tracks as all four of them felt their blood freeze. It was Filch, the caretaker. They still weren't visible from his spot though and all four quickly ducked behind one of the benches that were loaded with prices that people had earned during their stay at Hogwarts through generations.

"Where are they? That boy said they should be here by 12!" they heard Filch mutter.

Harry, though he had always known that the likelihood that Malfoy actually showed up was far smaller than the same that he would show, couldn't help but feel his blood start boiling. Just chickening out was one thing, but to actually send Filch after them was another. Malfoy was gonna regret this, for a long time!

When he couldn't see anyone, Filch began moving into the room, using his torch to lit up every corner. Harry held his breath when he passed their hiding spot, amazed that they hadn't been found yet. Peeking over the bench, he tried to calculate what chances they had of making it to the exit without Filch seeing them or at least who they were. They would probably just need a few seconds, but that was time Filch wouldn't give them. Once the first was out, the other four were doomed to be spotted by him. As long as he wasn't occupied with something else...

Slowly and soundlessly, Harry reached down and began to untie his shoes. When he had both of them in his hands, he looked at his friends, who seemed to be holding their breath as well. He nodded to them once, showing his shoe, then pointing at the exit. Hoping they got his message, he once more peeked over the bench they were hiding behind. When Filch had his head turned, Harry soundlessly rose, feeling his heart beat in his throat, amazed that Filch couldn't hear its beating. Then, he tossed the right shoe across the room. A loud CLANG! echoed through the room as the shoe hit one of many golden trophies, causing it to fall over at another, then another causing a domino effect. Filch jumped at the sudden sound and swung around to face the source of the ruckuss. At that moment, Harry darted towards the door with Ron, Hermione and Neville in toe. They had pulled their robes as high up as possible to try and hide their faces.

Hearing their steps, Filch swore and turned around just in time to see a black cape disappear around the corner.

With Filch just a few corridors back, Harry and his friends were running as if their lifes depended on it. As they rushed through the corridors, they didn't look where they were heading and without noticing, thet ran towards the forbidden corridor on the third floor. Harry felt a tingle pass down his spine when they entered the corridor, but shook it off as he was busy trying to get the locked door open.

"Oh, move! _**Alohomora**!" _Hermione chanted with a stressed voice and the lock clicked open.

**-:-:-:-**

Severus was awoken by the sound of his secret alarm by the Forbidden Corridor. It took a moment for him to realize what it was, but when he did he flew out of his bed as if it was on fire. Dammit! Was Quirell already making another attempt at the stone?

Without bothering to change out of his sleepwear, he simply grabbed his cloak haning by the exit to his dorm and ran for all that he was worth up the stairs. He swore slightly about the corridor being so far away from his office, but there wasn't much he could do about it. Had it been in any other situation, he would prbably have felt proud about the speed at which he was running. Something about the thought of his former master, and Lily's murderer getting back to full power, spurred him to force himself to run faster and faster. Voldemort would not get the stone! Not if he could help it!

As he entered the third floor, he pulled out his wand. If he found Quirell up here, he would kill him, no matter what Albus might say. Sure, there was a definite reason he had been given for keeping Quirell, and to an extent, Voldemort around but if he got any closer to the stone, then it didn't matter. If that happened, Severus would put a stop to it.

He burst into the corridor and, seeing a person sneaking around he corridor, immediately pointed his wand at him and inchanted: "**_Validus_**_** Corripio**!_"

As he said it, he threw his arm backwards over his shoulder, causing the person to get thrown in the same direction his wand had moved. The person landed in front of him and Severus had just lifted his wand to stun him when he saw who it was.

"What do you think you're doing?! You filthy little..." Filch trailed off as he looked up to see who it was who had caught him.

Severus narrowed his eyes as he felt irritation boil up within him. All that rush and all he catches is this... _thing_. He had never liked Filch for his open enjoyment of other's suffering, but in this very moment, he really felt like he wanted to kill the man.

"What are you doing here, Mr Filch?" he asked, with cold fury dripping from his voice, enough to cause even the students who, unknown to him, was hidden behind the _locked_ door to tremble. It would appear even Filch picked up on it, because he trembled in his place as he stuttered for an answer.

"I-I was just pursuing some late night walkers, sir." he said, for once adding the honorific at the end of the statement.

Hearing the caretakers excuse for sniffing around and setting off his alarm, Severus had to bite his jaws tightly together to keep himself from screaming out in rage. Pursuing late night walkers? Yeah, right. Gritting his teeth, Severus grabbed Filch by the collar and pulled him to his feet.

"You're coming with me. NOW!" Severus growled as he dragged the caretaker out of the corridor and towards his office in the dungeons, where he was going to have a serious talk with the man. One of the benefits of having his office in the dungeons was that he coudl scream and roar as much as he wanted at night without waking anyone up. A benefit that he intended to take full advantage off now.

**-:-:-:-**

Harry felt himself release the breath he had been holding when he saw Uncle Sev drag Filch away by the collar. He had never seen Uncle Sev so... furious. But how had he known Filch was here? Well, never mind. It was a good thing that he had arrived when he did because Filch had been coming for the door when Severus had burst in.

"Man, suddenly I have a whole new respect for Snape." Ron said as he turned around from the door. And froze in fear. "H-Harry?" he squeked out.

This cause Harry to turn around as well, and what he saw almost made his heart stop. He was staring into three pairs of mad eyes, which was attached to a dog. A very large _three-headed dog!_ The beast in question was staring at them, as if daring them to move or perhaps just shocked to see them. The other two of their party had also turned around by now and Hermione had given off what should probably have been scream but only came out as a weak squek. Harry felt like his blood had frozen in his veins as he took a slow step backwards towards the door. And then, the dog shook its head and jumped at them.

"RUN!" Harry shouted and threw his remaining shoe in the middle face of the dog, distracting it from its pounce for a moment, enough time to get the door open. Screaming at the top of her lungs, Hermione stumbled out after him, closely followed by Ron and Neville. Harry forced the door closed as soon as Neville was out and he heard the lock click.

Casting a quick glance at each other, all four darted towards the exit of the corridor and didn't slow down before they were back in the common room. When they were all back safe and sound, they fell over each other in a pile on the floor, puffing.

"What the bloody hell are they thinking?! Keeping a thing like that, locked up in a school?!" Ron whispered, though Harry got the impression it was mainly because he had screamed his heart out during their encounter with the dog.

"You didn't see what it was standing on did you? It was guarding a trapdoor!" Hermione said as she sat up again.

Harry took a deep breath to try and get his racing heart under control and sat up.

"A trapdoor? Why would there be a trapdoor on the third floor?" he asked as he turned towards Hermione who looked pretty pale at the moment,

"Well, I don't care! I've had enough of excitement for one night!" Neville exclaimed when he regained his voice and rushed up towards the boys dormitory.

Ron wasted no time and was quick to follow his friend's example, leaving Harry and Hermione alone in the common room. Harry stood up and leant against one of the armchairs that stood by the fireplace. He tried to draw deep, calming breaths and was having some success. When he felt he was almost back to normal, he opened his eyes and looked down on Hermione, who was still sitting on the floor.

"We can talk more about that tomorrow. I think we all need some good night sleep." he said as he reached out with a hand and helped her to her feet.

"I think you might be right. Harry, I'm sorry!" Hermione said, her voice rising slightly with guilt at the "I'm sorry" part.

Harry shook his head.

"It's not your fault Hermione. We were all there, so all of us could have done something for it to have turned out differently." he said and tried to give her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"But if I hadn't been so set on putting Malfoy in his place, none of us would have been out in the first place!" she said.

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at her reason for putting all blame on herself. When she looked offended by his chuckle, he reached out and put a hand on her shoulder and gave her a smile.

"Well, at least you tried to be yourself and that's what counts. Real friends don't care if you mess up or do something stupid. They still love you, even if you send them to their deaths." he said and gave her shoulder a squeeze to show that he didn't think any less of her because of what had happened.

For a moment, it looked like Hermione was going to protest but when she felt Harry's comforting squeeze, she just relaxed and took a deep breath. Surprisingly, Harry's words calmed her down. After a few seconds of silence, she looked up and met his gaze.

"You're right Harry. Thank you. Since when did you become so wise?" she asked. The terms "easygoing" and "wise" wasn't two attributes she would usually link together, but then again, Harry had kept surprising her since they started school. Like now, when he just shrugged.

"I have no idea. But I know one thing." he said as he got a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Hermione growned.

"What's that?" she asked.

Harry grinned as he leant forward to whisper in her ear, not that it was nescesary but probably more for the fun of it.

"Right now, I'm glad we ordered a cat for Ginny, rather than a dog."

Hermione couldn't help it. She laughed. She actually laughed at Harry's joke. Harry himself was just smiling as the two friends walked over to the stairs and said good night to each other, before making their ways up to their own separate dormitories.

* * *

**A/N: **_There we go! I said I would try and make the chapters longer and here you are: the longest chapter as of yet. I think I got this together pretty good actually. I would really like to have your opinion on things though, as it's you who are the ones reading!_

_Now, just like last time, I got a question. Since I suck at names, I would like for people to try and help me come up with a name for Ginny's soon-to-be part-kneazle. It's a kneazle-kitten (if you call it that?) that is a male, have black, fluffy fur and green eyes. If you think you got a nice name for it, please PM me or name it in a review!_

_Review answers:_

**_mdauben:_**_ That would probably be the best solution. Thanks for your opinion on it!_

**_ej101: _**_Perhaps, perhaps not. That's details I'll work out when I get to them, but when I do, I'll consider it._

**_Irishdanceringrulz1776:_**_ Damn, your name is hard to spell! XD No offense :p Anyway, I want to keep Harry at least a bit in character as well, he is still Harry. And since Harry grew up aware of magic, he is also have a little more insight about it and the result is that he is a little more studios about it. I will not comment on your guess, it will come up in a later chapter that shouldn't be too far away! :)_

**_emarald777:_**_ Hmm, you're actually right! Had no idea Fay was in Gryffindor same year as Harry... Well, to make up for it, I'll simply make her a classmate of Katie Bell, who is one year above Harry. From what I know about Fay, she was born one year earlier than Harry but couldn't attend due to her birthday being too late in the year so we will just say that she was born a few months earlier! Hope this doesn't upset you._

**_Sisno2200:_**_ Right, I won't send Hermione on you then. I'll just send Professor McGonagall instead. And you're right, that was an embarrasing mistake. I had just re-read the chapter in "My Brother" where Harry bombards Sirius with "Expulso!" curses so I guess my mind was in for "Expul-something". _

_And that was all I had to say for now. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and look forward to the next one. Until then! =)_


	9. A very kneazly surprise!

**A/N:** _Here comes chapter 9! Enjoy!_

_Oh, and for those who haven't noticed, I got a new poll in my profile, asking for your opinion on if I should turn this story into a serie, with one "book" per year in school or if I should keep it all in the same story?_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter in any way!

* * *

**Chapter Nine: **A very kneazly surprise!

Monday morning found Harry once again sitting by the Gryffindor table early. After the nightly adventures on Saturday, he had decided that he wanted to relax on Sunday and had mostly stayed in the common room, reading _Simple but Unnescesary Spells_ and giving Ron pointers every now and then for his Transfigurations essay. When most people had went down for lunch he, Ron, Neville and Hermione had gotten together to talk about what in the world Dumbledore could be thinking to keep a Giant Three-Headed Dog in a school. Hermione once again pointed out the trapdoor as the reason and relayed her theory that it was guarding something, which Harry was inclined to agree with. But aside from that, they couldn't really figure out anything more. They had no clue whatsoever could be so important for a school that they would put a beast like that on guard duty so they decided to try and not think about it anymore.

Standing up to go back to the Gryffindor tower to prepare for todays lessons, Harry couldn't help but feel excited. Professor Flitwick had promised that they would get to try their first spell today in charms class. Their entire year was excited at the prospect, but Harry felt that none could be as excited as he was. This was what he had come here for! To learn how to actually perform magic! He met Ron on his way back to the Gryffindor tower and gave him a simple "Good Morning" before continuing on towards their dormitory. When he finally made it back, the first thing he did was open his trunk and pull out the box that contained his wand.

He slowly lifted the piece of wood out of its box and looked it over. It was very well crafted, without as much as a milimeter bulge or crack. The Hollywand had been colored a very deep shade of black from the careful and accurate polish it had been exposed to after its creation. Olivander himself had said it was one of his best creations as of yet. 11 inches long, it contained one single feather from a phoenix, the same phoenix who had supplied the feather for the wand he had sold to Lod Voldemort.

_"I believe we can expect great things from you, Mr Potter. Actually, he-who-must-not-be-named did great things. Horrible! Yes... but great!"_ Olivander's voice came floating back to him. Despite his hatred of the Dark Lord, Harry had to admit that Olivander probably was right. Voldemort must have been an incredibly powerful wizard if his name alone was enough to strike fear into anyone but Uncle Al and a select few others. From what Uncle Sev had told him about his parents' murderer, Voldemort had never lost a single duel in his entire life, which made his demise at Harry's hands even more remarkable. How could he have lost to a baby, when he had never lost to any other witch or wizard ever? Whatever the reason, Harry knew he had to find out. Could that be the "great thing" Olivander talked about? For him to discover the truth about the mystery he himself had created? Was that the reason why Harry's and Voldemort's wands shared the same core?

"_The wand choses the Wizard, Mr Potter. Never forget that."_ Was that the reason why their wands had picked the partners they had? The more he thought about it, the more confused he got but at the same time, he found it greatly fascinating. It sounded like the wands themselves had a mind of their own, as if they might even have their own personality and preferences. Harry held up his own wand for a closer inspection.

"You guys sure are one big mystery, aren't you?" he asked the wand absentmindedly. As if to answer his question, the wand shot out a rain of red sparks from its tip. Harry didn't know if it was a sign or if he simply had gotten so excited that he had let a bit of his magic slip through the wand, but didn't get the time to elaborate further as Neville returned to the dorm just then.

"Hey Harry! Excited to be able to perform magic?" the boy asked when he noticed Harry sitting at the floor, inspecting his wand.

Harry smiled at him and stood up. Neville had seemed a little nervous at the prospect of performing magic so yesterday, Harry had asked him why that was, just after they had stopped talking about the dog. Apparently, Neville hadn't shown almost any sign of magical abilities except one time in his entire life and now he feared that he would be sent back home if he couldn't do any magic.

"Definetely. I can't wait to finally get underway!" he said enthusiastically.

Neville just nodded and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, in which Harry joined him as soon as he had safely put the wandbox back in the trunk and sneaked the wand inside his robes carefully. Once they were done, they sat down at their respective beds just as Ron, Dean and Seamus came back from breakfast. The dormmates struck up a light conversation about what kind of spell they would be asked to perform first. Ron hoped they would get to learn something they could use to use at Malfoy the next time he bited down on them, but Seamus quickly pointed out that magic like that probably would come up in Transfiguration or Defense Against the Dark Arts, as charms were more often focused around practical skills like levitation or summoning, to which Neville said that the levitation charm was a fairly safe bet about what they would do today. The boys kept talking as they made their way down to the common room to wait until their first class of the day started. They wouldn't have charms until in the afternoon.

**-:-:-:-**

While Harry was working himself up about getting to learn his first spell with his wand, someone else was working themselves up over the progress they had just made with another kind of magic, in another part of Britain. After having spent a week of trying to levitate a feather she had pulled from the back of a chicken (she still had some scratches from the incident), Ginny had finally managed to make it move without touching it or blowing at it. It still wasn't flying, but she had managed to get it to move around on her desk, though she felt very tired now that she had managed it. Ever since she had decided she wanted to learn to control her underage magic like Harry had, she had been working most of her time awake to try and learn how to do it. She had done as her mother had asked and was learning about some spells to use in the house, but she had yet to actually get to try any of them. And whenever she didn't have to do that, she had been either practicing or reading whatever she could find that could help her.

And now finally, she had managed to make some real progress. It may not seem like much to others, but to Ginny this was everything. This was proof. It was proof that it was possible for her to learn to control her underage magic. She had been told all her life that it was impossible to control underage magic and she had always believed it, until she met Harry. He had shown to her that it was possible and had encouraged her to believe she could do it too. And he had been right. If she just practiced enough and kept going at this all she could, she knew she could learn to do it, like he had.

After regaining her breath, she got up and quickly made her way downstairs with the feather in hand. She had to show her mom! Her mom had said it couldn't be done, but now she had proof that it could!

"Mom!" she cried as she entered the kitchen.

The kitchen was empty, save for the sponge that had been magically enchanted to clean out a large saucepan. Ginny looked around, wondering where her mother could have gotten off to. Usually during the morning, she was working in the kitchen.

"Mom?" she called out again as she moved further into the room.

"Ginny? What is it?" came her mother's voice from outside the front door and a seconds later, Molly Weasley came walking inside with a bowl of freshly picked potatoes in her hands.

Ginny couldn't help but jump in excitement as she ran over and grabbed her mother's hand and led her to the table, where she sat her down. Molly looked at her daughter with a very confused look when the small red haired girl took the bowl from her hands and put it away at the sink before coming back and climbing onto one of the chairs to put what appeared to be the feather she had gotten into a chicken fight to get last week on the table. When she gave her daughter a questioning look, Ginny grinned excitedly and pointed at the feather.

"Look at this!" she squeled happily and held out her hand and her face took on a look of utmost concentration.

Molly frowned but did as she was told and looked down at the feather. For a moment, nothing happened, except Ginny's forehead burrowing up in concentration. Molly was just about to ask what it was she was supposed to see when suddenly, the feather lifted slowly off the table. Molly stared as the feather floated over the table, just above the surface and then, to her shock, she realized that Ginny was guiding it along with her hand. After a few more seconds, Ginny's face seemed to relax and the feather fell back against the surface. Her daughter took a moment to regain her breath, then looked up at her mother with a cheeky grin.

"See? I told you it was not impossible."

The Weasley matriarch was stunned to say the least.

"Ginny...? How did you...?"

She knew her daughter had claimed that Harry could control his underage magic and that she wanted to learn too, but in her mind she had never expected her to actually succeed. Of course she had tried to seem encouraging but she had never thought it was actually possible. It shouldn't be, right?

"Harry told me in his last letter that it might be better to focus on getting the object to _move_ instead of trying to get it to _fly_ for a start. He said that it got harder to control the higher over a surface he tried to levitate an object so it would be better to just lift it off the surface just barely and then try and move it around to get used to the feeling. I tried it and it worked!" Ginny seemed delighted at her own success.

_And with good reason too,_ Molly thought as she congratulated her daughter on her achievement. Despite her initial shock over this turn of events and in her own mind, bending of the laws of nature, Molly couldn't help but feel proud of Ginny. She had managed something that none of her brothers had. To be honest, Molly didn't know anyone who she knew for sure had been able to control their underage magic. Well, if she didn't count Harry, and she didn't because she really hadn't more than exchanged greetings with him once. But Ginny did know him, and that had been what had driven her to attempt this. Because Harry had encouraged it. For not the first time since the summer, Molly found herself thankful that Ginny had met Harry in Diagon Alley that day. He really did bring out the best of her.

"Well, this is quite the achievement. I think someone deserves a little reward for her hard work, don't you think?"

Ginny looked up at her mother with a questioning look before realization dawned on her face. With a childish cry of happiness, Ginny flew out of her seat and began jumping in joy.

"Yay! Ice cream!" she squeled happily.

Molly chuckled at her daughter's antics. Some things never changed. Ginny had always had an insatiable hunger for ice cream, in all its many tastes and colors. When they were in town to buy food, Ginny always went to the freezer first, in the hopes of laying her hands on some ice cream.

Just as Molly was about to get up from her chair to walk over to the fridge and get the ice cream out, she spotted something in the sky through the window. It started off as 4 black dots but when it got closer, Molly realized with a start that it was what looked like a flock of owls. 2 large eagle owls were carrying a very large parcel towards her house, with a smaller owl flying beside it!

Realizing that the door was closed and the owls were heading straight for it, Molly flew out of her seat and stumbled over to throw the door open just in time for the owls to fly inside with the parcel. The smaller owl followed close behind and the three birds came to rest on the kitchen table, with the parcel in their middle. Ginny, who had been startled by her mother's sudden movement and almost had fallen on her butt when the owls came flying into the kitchen, shook her head to snap out of her shock and looked over at the owls with a curious look.

"What have you ordered mom?" she asked as she made her way over to study the large box on the table. She had to climb up into one of the chairs to get a good look on it since she was so short.

The box was red in color and had been wrapped in a green gift string. It was big enough to fit a full grown rooster inside with space to spare. At least Ginny thought so. Her mother left the door open so the owls could leave when they had been relieved of their burden and walked over to the table with a frown on her face.

"I didn't order anything." she said with a confused look as she detached the strings that enabled the owls to carry the box.

As soon as they had been relieved of their parcel, the owls flew out through the open door. Molly reached over and pulled the box closer to inspect it. She couldn't make out anything strange with it, so it wasn't one of Fred's and George's joke gifts (they had sent a Hogwarts Toilet Seat during the past week). She felt someone tug at her shirt and looked down to see Ginny's excited face.

"Can I open it? Pleeeeaaase?" she asked with pleading eyes. She had never seen a giftbox this big before.

Looking into her daughter's big brown eyes, Molly melted. She hadn't been able to find anything suspicious about it so she just nodded towards her youngest child and Ginny immediately set to unwrapping the box. Molly watched with a thoughtful look as the wrapping paper came off to reveal a big box from... the Magical Menagerie? Ginny however, only took a moment to look at the box before opening up the top and peek in... and gasp in shock. Worried it might contain something dangerous, they didn't only sell fluffy furballs and owls at the MM, Molly hurried over and pulled the top open to find... a kitten. There, in what appeared to be the bottom of a cat basket, a small black kitten with big green eyes looked back up at them with a curious look.

"Mheow!" it piped up.

"Aww, it's so cute!" Ginny said as she reached inside to scratch it behind the ear. The kitten took a step back when its eyes locked on the approaching finger. Seeing this, Ginny held her hand still for a moment. The kitten looked at the finger curiously and then slowly stalked over and smelled it. As soon as it had determined that the finger wasn't dangerous, it gave it a lick.

Giggling at the touch, Ginny reached inside the box with both her hands and lifted the small cat out of the box and held it close to her chest. The kitten looked around the kitchen with a searching look, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. Scratching it behind the ear, Ginny turned to her mother beaming.

"Can we keep him?" she asked.

She didn't wait for an answer though before she turned towards the table again to see what the third owl had left. Her mother did the same, hoping to get an explanation as to why a delivery from the MM suddenly shows up in her house, containing a kitten.

"But who would... wait a minute, I recognize that handwriting!"

Apparently, so did Ginny because her eyes widened and she quickly freed one of her hands and reached over to open the note that had come with the delivery.

_Dear Ginny!_

_I know you said that you had your hands full with your training to control your underage magic and that you were happy with things the way they are at the moment, but you shouldn't just train. It is exhausting and you got less than a year left before you will get to learn real magic anyway, so you should try and seize the day and play around while you still can, because even after a week, I can tell you that you won't have much time for that here at Hogwarts. _

_I remember you saying in one of your letters that you didn't have any playmates nearby, so I thought I could get the honor of solving it? My friend Hermione helped me pick out this little fellow. He is a part kneazle. She said they are very intelligent so I figured he would be good at understanding games and things like that. He doesn't have a name yet though so I was hoping that you could name him?_

_And don't you dare call this charity! I have more than enough money for the both of us so it's only natural I would want to spend some on my best friend! Just try to have a little fun with him, I'm sure he will love you! I'm not saying you should stop training, because I'm sure you can learn control in time, but you should try and do more than that and have fun now that you have a playmate! _

_Your friend,  
Harry_

As she read it over, Ginny felt her chest constrict with emotion. This was too much! She had always wanted to have a real pet, even if it only meant inheriting Scabbers from Ron when he got something else. But now, Harry had wasted who knows how much money on buying her her very own pet, a cat on top of that. She loved cats! But at the same time, she felt slightly ashamed. She had been raised to not accept charity like this. Her mother had told her that she shouldn't accept it when people bought her things, just because she couldn't buy it herself. But at the same time, she felt so happy to have her own pet, but that only made her feel more ashamed because she enjoyed Harry's charity. But looking down at the kitten in her arms, she just couldn't bring herself to refuse it. He was so cute! And Harry had said that she shouldn't regard this as charity... Perhaps just this once?

"You know we can't keep him, right?" her mother said.

Hearing her mother's voice, Ginny tore her gaze away from the kneazle and looked up at her.

"Please mom! Just this once? I know I shouldn't accept random gifts like this... I really do, but this is Harry!" she said as she felt her chest constrict even more at the thought of giving up her little kitten. She already felt connected to him.

"A boy you met just last month! I know he seems like a nice boy, but if this is how he makes friends, then perhaps he should learn to make friends the real way first?"

Ginny felt her anger rise at what her mother was indicating. Did she think that Harry was trying to _buy_ their friendship?! No, Harry wasn't like that! They had been friends for... well, just a month but still, they were already best friends! They shared things with each other they didn't share with anyone else! If that didn't count as already being friends, then what did?!

"Harry isn't like that! He wouldn't try to buy me, he knows better! I know him better! We're best friends!" Ginny screamed, her temper flaring.

The kitten in her arms gave off a "mheow!", as if to underline his new mistress' statement. Ginny felt tears of anger threaten to spill over as she looked up at her mother with a defiant look in her eyes.

"You do not speak to me in that tone, young lady!" Molly growled back, her own temper flaring to life.

Ginny grit her teeth as she hugged the kitten tighter in her arms, as if to protect him from her mother and keep him out of arms reach from the woman who wanted to take him away. She felt as if she let go of the kitten and let it get taken away, it would be as if Harry was taken away from her.

"AND YOU SHOULD NOT INSULT MY BEST FRIEND!" Ginny screamed furiously at the top of her lungs. At the sudden increase in volume, the kitten shifted uneasily in her arms, but Ginny held firm.

Molly opened her mouth to give an angry response, but froze half way. What was she doing? Hadn't she thought just a few minutes ago, not to mention for the last month or so, that Harry brought out the best of her daughter? She had been happy that Ginny had found someone to talk to, someone who seemed like he genuiely cared for her and now here she was, trying to undermine and break up that friendship just because Harry had tried to be nice?

"I... I didn't mean it like that." she managed to croak out. Thinking it through, Molly felt shame start to build up in her. Had she really been willing to ruin her daugher's friendship with her best friend, just because she didn't like it when people shared things with her family? The Weasleys had always been poor and even though she would really like to have just a little more money, Molly never once questioned that she deeply loved all of her family. But she was also very proud of herself for being able to raise a family of 7 children with the very limited rescources she and Arthur had at their disposal. And she disliked it when people pitied them because of their economy. But did she honestly believe that pity had been the reason Harry wanted to share something with Ginny?

While Molly was trying to come to term with her thoughts, Ginny had finally given in to tears. She hated crying more than anything because it made her feel weak, but she couldn't help it. She was just so angry, and hurt that her mother had even inclined that she should refuse it when Harry tried to be nice. Sobbing uncontrollably, Ginny began stomping towards the stairs again.

"Ginny, wait!"

Hearing the undertone of pleading in her mother's voice, Ginny stopped when she reached the lowest staircase. Turning to look over her should, she found that her mother had reached out with one hand, as if she had tried to grab her. Her face held a pained look and her eyes were glittering.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. I just..." she stopped herself half way. She wasn't sure what it was she wanted to say. All she knew is that she wanted her daughter to be happy again. Like she had been just 10 minutes ago, when she had come rushing downstairs to show her progress on her training. And what pained her the most was that she herself had been the reason that Ginny was crying now. "Look, I didn't mean to insult Harry. I just don't want you to like him for the wrong reasons."

Ginny's eyes narrowed. Hadn't she and Harry been best friends for a month before this package had arrived? Hadn't she spent hours on end talking about what a wonderful person Harry was? Hadn't her mother seen them at the station? There had been no gifts then, no packages and no charity... just two friends who was happy to see each other! With a huff, she turned back around and stomped up the stairs towards her room. In her wake was a tearful Molly Weasley, who felt almost as if she had just made the mistake of her life.

**-:-:-:-**

"One of a wizards most basic skills is levitation. So that is what we will be practising from this day onward." Professor Flitwick stated to his first year class.

Despite his glee at finally learning how to perform spells, Harry couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed that it was an ability he already possessed. He had read up on the levitation charm after he had bought his study books and it sounded pretty much the same as what he could do with his underage magic. But ah well, at least he would get to use his wand.

Professor Flitwick went on to talk about the theory behind the levitation spell before showing them the wand movement that was required. Harry payed close attention, wanting to quickly get the hang of the flick of his wrist and was very careful to try and learn it when they were ordered to try it for themselves. Beside him, Seamus had appeared to be a little bored during the explanation and as a result, his wand movements weren't as well in tune and floating as they were supposed to be. Ron was sitting with Hermione a few benches away, where the bushy haired girl tried to teach him how to flick his wrist the right way. This seemingly was getting on the redheads nerves, but he just kept his mouth shut and tried harder. After 10 minutes of wand waving, Flitwick went on to tell them of the incantation they were supposed to chant while doing the wand flick at the same time. Saying it was time to try to perform the spell, he sent around a basket containing feathers for them to try and levitate.

Harry felt excitement build as he flicked his wand to perform his first real spell.

"**Wingardium Leviosa!**" he chanted. Nothing happened.

He frowned. He had focused his magic the same way he was used to. It had even _felt _the same way! So why didn't it work?

"**Wingardium Leviosa!**" he tried again and flicked his wrist a little more distinctly. Still nothing.

After several more tries, Harry was starting to feel cold inside. Had he lost his magic? No, it was still there, he could still feel it. But why didn't it work? He kept on trying and trying, growing more uncertain about his own ability for ever failed attempt. At the end of the lesson, only Hermione had managed to get the spell to work, earning Gryffindor 10 points, and a few had managed to get the feather to move slightly. But Harry still hadn't seen any progress. His feather was still lying flat on the surface of his bench. With a heavy heart, Harry stood up and slowly made his way over to the Professor's desk to give Flitwick back his feather with his head hung down.

"Now now, why the sad face Mr Potter? From what I saw, you did nothing wrong. It is just a matter of practice!" Professor Flitwick piped up when Harry handed the feather back to him.

Looking up at the small Professor, Harry pondered if he should tell him the real reason why he was so disappointed. Surely it couldn't hurt? Perhpaps the Professor could help him to understand why it was so difficult.

"It's not that Professor. I have been able to levitate object since I was a child, but for some reason it just wouldn't work today." he said as he held out his hand to demonstrate.

Without warning, the desk and the pile of books Professor Flitwick was standing on began to float into the air, causing the small man to let out a shout of surprise. Digging deeper into his magic, Harry lifted up a bench from the first row, causing the student that was still sitting there to scream. After keeping it floating in the air for an entire minute, Harry let go of his magical grip and all the object floated back into place. The few students who was still in the classroom gaped at him as he looked back up at his Professor, who was struggling to regain his balance on the pile of books.

"See? It works fine, but for some reason it won't work when I try to use my wand. Why is that?" he asked, hoping the Professor would be able to give an answer.

After regaining his balance, Professor Flitwick turned to look at Harry with a stunned expression on his face. He had heard rumors that Severus claimed that the boy could perform magic at a very young age, but he had never really expected it to be to this extent. But if Harry could do that without a wand, then what was keeping him from doing the same with a wand?

"I'm afraid I don't really know why that may be. I will talk to the other Professors about it." he said, to the young boy's disappointment.

Feeling rather confused and a little let down, Harry made his way out of the room. Outside, he found his friends waiting for him. When Ron asked why he hadn' been able to perform the charm, he answered that he didn't know and that Flitwick didn't either. Hermione and Neville looked confused as to why Ron would expect Harry to get it when no one other than Hermione had done it, to which the two boys went on to explain that Harry could make objects float by using underage magic. When Hermione seemed sceptical, Harry proceeded to levitate her school bag, which contained several books, with a wave of his hand. They kept talking about this very unusual matter the rest of their way to History of Magic class.

**-:-:-:-**

Dinner that evening was a little strained for Harry. Due to his little show in front of Flitwick at the end of the charms lesson, he found himself victim to more stares than usual. The rumor that Harry Potter had showed "powers like no one else" had travelled like wildfire amongst the student body. Sitting by the Gryffindor table, Harry couldn't help but litterally throw his food down his throat to get out of everyone's sight as quickly as possible. His friends studied him with various degrees of concern wirtten across their faces, except for Ron, who was too engulfed in his own food to notice the many stares his friend recieved.

Harry quickly finished his food and told his friends that he would see them in the common room. Hopefully, he wouldn't attract as much attention there. Hermione and Neville looked worriedly after him as he made his way down the rows of tables. He had just made it to the exit hall when one of the Professors caught up with him.

"Harry!"

The boy in question turned around and came face to face with Severus Snape. Since that first day, he and Uncle Sev had both been busy with the school start, Harry with his homework and studies and Severus with getting to know all his new classes. Seeing his favorite uncle again, Harry couldn't help but smile.

"Hey Uncle Sev!" he cheered.

Severus offered a half smile as he grabbed his young friend's shoulder.

"Why don't we go for a walk?"

Harry nodded eagerly and followed Severus out of the great hall. They struck up a light conversation as Severus led them out onto the school grounds. Harry felt the light night breeze caress his forehead and found the tension from earlier leave his body. When they were half way down towards the forest, Severus decided it was time to get on with what he had wanted to talk about.

"I heard from Filius about your problem in class today."

Initially frowning at that, since he didn't know who "Filius" was, Harry realized that it must be Professor Flitwick's given name. He nodded his head, not sure if he should be ashamed or embarrased or perhaps both. The fact that he hadn't been able to perform a magic with a wand that he could normally do at will without a wand was something that really bugged him. He had spent the lesson in History of Magic to try and figure out what it could possibly be but so far, he had come out empty handed.

"From what he described, you did the correct incantation and wand movements, and yet still failed to perform the magic. Is that right?" Severus continued, studying his young friend with an interested eye.

Harry just nodded again. He wasn't sure why he felt nervous about talking to Severus about this, but he thought it might be because Severus had such high hopes for him and he was afraid this might be regarded as a let down or a failure.

"Well, Flitwick asked me about it and I might have an idea as to why you failed to perform the levitation charm."

Hearing this, Harry looked up. His uncle's voice hadn't hinted at any disappointment or anything of the kind, but rather that he was slightly intrigued at what could be causing this. Seeing that he had the young boy's attention, Severus went on to explain.

"The problem in this case could be your use of underage magic. You think you got this ability down and so you automatically focus your magic in a certain way when you want to levitate something. But at the same time, you try to follow the instructions you are given and do the wand movement and incantation. Those are both elements that are supposed to help _guide_ your magic in the way it is needed in order for the spell to work, but since you already have a certain way of focusing your magic when you levitate an object, it interferes rather than helps."

He paused for a second to see if Harry was still with him. This was a rather complicated theory and it was important that Harry got it all down, because it could become a problem in the future if it was not seen to. Harry had a look of slight confusion on his face, but Severus could see that his brain was working in high gears to process this information. When he got a nod to continue, he went on about what he thought.

"The problem here is that in order to levitate something _with _a wand, you need to focus your magic in a different way than if you want to levitate something _without _your wand. The wand is a tool that is supposed to help guide your magic and focus it the right way. In this case, it is supposed to focus on the object for you and help you shape the spell's properties to levitate the object. You on the other hand, is used to focus on the object directly and release your magic around you, from all over your body and engulf the object. It is a natural action that your mind subconciously takes when you try to levitate something. When you try to focus on using the levitation spell with your concious mind, but you subconcious mind releases your magic from all over your body, it interferes with the spell and the magic becomes unfocused."

That was a lot to take in. But for a boy his age, Harry was very intelligent and though he didn't quite understand the reasoning, he was able to pick up on the important parts.

"So... The problem is that I still focus my magic as if I wanted to levitate something wandlessly, while my concious mind is trying to force it to become focused through the wand?"

Severus smiled, seeing that he understood the theory thus far. But, there was some more to it.

"That is the base of this theory yes. But there is also another possibility. Since you are used to releasing your magic all around your body when you levitate something, the amount of magic you call upon is many times higher than what is required to perform the spell with a wand, thus causing the charm to shut down from overloading. Charms in particular are very fragile when it comes to the amount of power used to perform them. If you were to try another spell, for example a high powered curse, it is more than likely you would still manage to cast it, because it would be able to tolerate and in some cases even demand the higher than usual release of magic." Severus finished.

He then gave Harry some time to ponder this, which the boy did the most of. He could clearly see the reasoning behind Severus' theory and felt glad that he at least had something to go on. If this was the case of his disability to use the levitation charm, then perhaps he could train himself to master the charm through another way. He remembered that when he had been learning to control his underage magic and levitate things that way, he had been forced to learn how to focus his magic in a certain way. If the same was the problem here, then perhaps if he could first learn to focus his magic through his wand it would be easier for him to learn the levitation charm?

"So what's the plan?" he asked.

"I am going to try and start teaching you a higher level spell that would normally require more magical power than any first year would be able to muster up. If we just get you more used to performing magic with a wand, you will in time learn to better control your powers and hopefully be able to perform the levitation charm then. It is all about getting used to using your wand and I think we have a better shot at that if we teach you something that won't break from overloading." Severus said as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder again and smiled at him.

Harry felt grateful that Severus had taken the time to analyze his problem and try and help him find a solution. This was way more than he would have been able to guess by himself. And if he was to be honest, he hadn't quite gotten everything Severus had said, but at least he understood most of it and was able to understand what Severus was getting at. He was using too much magic and focusing it the wrong way because he was used to performing magic without a wand. When he then tried to do it with a wand, he put too much power into it and the spell broke down before it left the wand because of overloading itself and being poorly focused.

"Thanks Uncle Sev. I really appreciate it." he said as he grinned up at his favorite uncle.

Severus ruffled his hair affectionately, to the boy's great displeasure, before offering a very serious look.

"You can thank me by performing well in your potions class tomorrow. It would be really bad if I had to fail you." he said as the two of them began making their way back towards the castle.

**-:-:-:-**

Ginny was seriously contemplating not going down for dinner when her mother called her name. They hadn't spoken to each other since their row that morning. She had spent the entire day in her room, except one visit to the loo and one to the kitchen to get a sandwich to take up to her room for lunch. The little part kneazle they had been fighting over had been excited to get to know its knew surroundings and she had felt content with just watching it darting around her room, sniffing and eyeing everything it was unfamiliar with. The mere thought that the kitten might not be here to stay was eating away at her as she watched it attempting to climb up into her bed with its small paws.

She couldn't believe Harry had actually bought her a pet. Well, it wasn't the first time he had given her something, but this was not just some ice cream or a cheap sweet. She had been to the Magical Menagerie with her mom when they had bought Percy's owl Hermes and she had seen the prices on most of the pets in there. They were way out of what her family would ever be able to afford. Even Hermes had been one of the cheaper owls for sale because of its age. The younger the pet, the more it would cost because it would be alive for that much longer. And cats, particularly those with kneazle blood in them, were amongst the most expensive because of their popularity among young witches. How could Harry expect her to not regard it as a big deal?

"Meow!" the little kitten piped up as he once more failed to jump onto the bed. Ginny giggled at his antics and climbed over to lift him up. Looking him over, she couldn't help but feel happy. The little kitten was just so cute and what was more, he represented Harry. She knew it was wrong to accept expensive gifts that came for no reason, she really did but when she held the little part kneazle, she couldn't help but feel that he belonged with her. Harry had given him to her because he cared for her, not because he wanted to buy her friendship. He didn't need to do that, they were already best friends. By now, her mother should have known that. Ginny couldn't believe her mother had even hinted that she thought Harry was trying to buy her friendship! Speaking of which, she could hear her mom calling her down for dinner again...

"Well, we better get going then, right?" she asked the little part kneazle.

"Meow!" was the only answer she got.

Taking a deep breath to try and calm down, Ginny opened her door and made her way down towards the kitchen, the kneazle still hugged tightly in her arms. When she entered the kitchen, she found both her parents sitting by the table already. Her father looked up with a surprised look when he spotted the little black kneazle in his daughter's arms while her mother just gave her a nervous glance.

"Hello Ginny. Who's that you got there?" he asked with a kind voice.

So her mother hadn't told him yet. Ginny turned towards the woman in question, who was still eyeing her daughter as if she was a ticking bomb, and gave her a sharp look.

"Uhm... Harry sent him." her mother explained the little kitten's prescence to her husband.

Arthur Weasley's eyes widened at the revealation. He looked from his daughter, to the kitten in her arms, then back again. He then turned to his wife with a questioning look, but it was Ginny who answered his unasked question.

"Harry sent him to me so I wouldn't feel alone while my brothers were away at school. I was very happy until mom said we should get rid of it." she growled the last part like an angry lion and, as if to underline what Ginny had said, the kitten turned its eyes towards Molly Weasley and gave off what appeared to be a glare.

Molly shifted uneasily under her daughter's and the kitten's gazes, looking helplessly at her husband. Arthur studied her for a moment, looking into the same brown eyes that their daughter had inherited from her. He could tell that despite what Ginny implied, Molly too was pretty torn up at the incident. When he didn't say anything, Molly turned away and seemingly shunk into her seat in shame. Raising his eyebrow at this, he turned back towards their daughter who was still standing in the doorway. Why would Molly want to get rid of something that without a doubt should have made Ginny the happiest girl in town? Then his gaze fell on the kitten in Ginny's arms and he began to make a certain... connection. The kitten in question did share certain traits with a very specific magical creature...

Looking back at Molly, who had returned to looking at Ginny and the kitten, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Pushing aside those thoughts for later, he reached over and grabbed his wife's hand over the table, causing her to turn back towards him.

"Molly." he said in a soft voice. "Am I to understand that this kitten Harry sent is a part kneazle?"

His wife nodded her head slowly.

"Did you try to take it away because of how much it must have cost Harry?"

This time, Molly hung her head in shame, confirming that Arthur had hit the nail on the head.

"Molly, I understand what it was you were trying to do, but the truth is we shouldn't interfere in this matter." both the females in the room narrowed their eyes at him at this, Ginny at the first part and Molly at the second. "While it is wrong to accept charity without a good reason, I believe this would qualify as a good reason to allow it. What Harry does with his money is not our business."

Molly opened her mouth as if she wanted to object to that but Arthur held up a hand to keep her silent.

"No listen. Harry is Ginny's best friend and from what I know, he is a wonderful boy. And he have inherited a lot of gold from his parents, particularly from his father. On top of that, he knows that he cannot buy friendship. He wouldn't need to buy any friendship, he could get anyone as a friend if he wanted to. He is the Boy Who Lived after all. He is world famous and he knows that true friendship comes from something other than fame and money."

Molly seemed to ponder this for a moment. Looking over at Ginny, who had been silent during the entire conversation, she got reminded about how Ginny had been before she met Harry. Withdrawn, sad and rarely spoke to anyone in their family. But Harry had brought her out of that shell she had hid inside and that had not been done by buying her gifts.

"You met Harry, didn't you? Did he strike you as the type to try and buy someone?" Arthur kept pushing for an answer.

Molly shook her head. No, he had definetely not done that. If she wouldn't have known who he was due to Ginny giving it away by hugging him and screaming his name, she could probably never have guessed that he had been rich or famous. And the way he had acted certainly didn't show any signs of arrogance or anything. And when they had said goodbye... Harry had been the only one to give Ginny a proper farewell. Percy had said it, but he hadn't even looked at her when he did. Fred and George had joked it off, though that was to be expected from them and Ron hadn't even paid her any attention. But Harry... he had turned around when he realized he hadn't said good bye. He had run back even though the whistle signaled that the train started to move. And he had... ok, so that kiss on the forehead might have been a little overboard but he had shown then that he really cared for Ginny.

"No, he didn't." she said at last.

Satisfied with her answer, Arthur once again opened his mouth.

"I may not know him very well, or not at all, but I can tell by the way Ginny have acted since they met that they have become good friends, _real friends._ And real friends give each other presents from time to time, don't they? For example, I remember that _you_ recieved a watch from Mary Cooper in our first year because you tended to always lose track of time."

Molly blushed at being reminded of that very embarrasing habit of hers. Looking at her now, one would never have guessed she used to be late to half the classes in one week during their first year.

"This is the same thing." Arthur continued. "I don't know why Harry sent Ginny a part kneazle, but he did it for a reason, be it to show that he cared for her or because he thought she needed a playmate or both. But whatever the reason, it wasn't because he wanted to buy her friendship, because that is something he already has."

Ginny looked at her father with a whole new respect in her eyes. She never knew he could be so...deep. He was usually so easy going and carefree.

"So you think we could keep the kitten?" Ginny asked hopefully, reminding her parents that she was still there.

Arthur looked over at his daughter and offered her a comforting smile.

"Yes, I think we could. And deep inside, I think your mother does too." he raised an eyebrow at his wife who was looking down at the table at the moment. He gave her a push and she sat back up straight. After looking at her husband, who smiled reassuringly at her, she turned towards Ginny and motioned for their daughter to come over.

Ginny did so, slowly. However, her eyes were narrowed down on her mother and she didn't even blink, as if her mom was a blood thirsty beast that could jump at her if she didn't pay close attention. When she had finally reached the table, her mother reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry for earlier today Ginny. I really am. I shouldn't have said those things about Harry and I realized afterwards how badly you must have taken it. Can you forgive me?"

Ginny studied her mother for a moment, before she opened up her arms and lifted the little part kneazle she still held onto into the air so her mother could see him.

"Do I get to keep Kurt?"

Her mother frowned.

"Kurt?"

"Yeah, he's got to have a name, doesn't he?" Ginny said as the little kitten purred.

Molly smiled slightly as she felt the tension leave the room slightly.

"Yes, you can keep him as long as you take good care of him and thank Harry properly."

Finally hearing the words she had been waiting for all day long, Ginny felt the last of her resentment towards her mother leave her. Seeing that her mother slowly and hesistantly opened her arms, Ginny jumped into her embrace and hugged her back.

"Thank you!" she murmured. It felt good to have made up again.

Molly returned Ginny's hugg and soon Arthur joined in, sneaking his arms into the tangle of limbs that was his wife and daughter. The three Weasleys sighed with content that the little argument was over and all three felt like they had gained something from it. Molly had gained a more open-minded view on money sharing and that not all sharing was made out of pity. Arthur felt like he had achieved something by helping his wife and daughter get along again and Ginny had gained a new friend, a new respect for her dad and she felt like she in a way understood her mother better now. But all of them had gained one thing in common: a whole new perspective of one certain Harry James Potter.

* * *

**A/N:** _There we go, yet another chapter finished! This got a little messier than I had planned, but I think it turned out pretty ok. It might be a little messy at certain parts though and the part where Snape explains why he thinks Harry have trouble performing magic with his wand might be a little confusing. If you think so, tell me in some way and I'll try and explain it better._

_When it comes to reviews, I just want to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter! And one extra big thanks to Cosmyk Angel, who was the only one who suggested a name for the kitten, even though I settled on a different one. The name she suggested actually gave me this name in a way. _

_And for those who haven't noticed or didn't read the AN at the top, I got a new poll up, asking if I should turn this story into a serie of "books" with one for each year or if I should stick it all in one story. Please vote!_

_So, I hope you will have a good time until I see you next time! That might be longer though, since I got sht load of stuff in school atm, so you will have a lot of time to write a big, fat and long review! Cya soon! =)_


	10. A Hell of a Halloween

**A/N: **_Ok... so I said I would take some time before my next chapter and then I post it the next day... Well, don't ask why, but I somehow got it finished so here we go with chapter 10! =) Enjoy!_

_The poll about if this should become a serie or stay a single story is still up and currently, the idea of making a serie seems to be more appealing to my readers! =)_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own this stuff. Never have, Never will.

* * *

**Chapter Ten: **A Hell of a Halloween!

With classes, quidditch practice and private lessons with Severus, time flew by quickly for Harry at Hogwarts. To his frustration, he kept on being unable to cast any of the low lever magic that they were assigned, in charms as well as Transfiguration. By now, Neville had managed to make his feather float and Hermione had already learned to transfigure her needle into a match. Ron still had trouble with his levitation charm, but he had managed to move his feather slightly, unlike Harry whose feather still hadn't moved one inch.

On the countrary, he was making fast progress on the quidditch pitch and was already feeling pretty comfortable on his broom. He still used one of the school brooms, but Professor McGonagall had told him not to worry about the rule that first years weren't allowed their own broom and that she would sort it out. His first practice with the team had been quite the experience. He and Katie, who was also new to the first team, had felt a little left out the first 10 minutes, but they had quicky gotten into the team spirit. The Weasley twins had welcomed them to the team by charming their quidditch robes to glow so that when the night came falling, they stood out like a pair of flying fluorescent lamps.

The evening after their little talk, Severus had called Harry down to his office to start their training. The curse he had decided to teach Harry was _Validus Corripio_, the same curse he had used on Filch, though Harry refrained from showing any recognition of the curse. The choice of curse proved to be a wise one, as the gripping curse's balance wasn't rubbed by an overuse of magical power, but just either tightened its grip on the object it was holding or increased the size of the "invisible hand" used for the grip. So far, all he had accomplished was the crushing of several glass bottles and other objects he was assigned to try it on, but at least it showed that he could do magic with a wand.

The weeks passed by and Harry was growing into a routine at Hogwarts. As opposite to what he had been thinking when he first arrived, one of his favorite subjects had gotten to be potions. While he had looked forward to Sev's classes, he had been more eager to actually use magic so classes like charms, transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts had seemed more appealing at that time. However, as he so far had failed to make any progress in either charms and transfiguration due to his spells still being overloaded and malfunctioning, and Professor Quirell was unwilling to allow them to use any magic during his classes so far, he found he enjoyed the classes in the dungeons more and more, even if they shared it with the slytherins. He got to do something that felt magical (unlike in History of Magic where all he did was sleeping) and it was not interfered or sabotaged by his "power problems", as Ron had dubbed them.

On 31rst of October, they were informed that there would be a large banquet in the great hall at the evening. This caused excitement to spread among the first years. Harry found himself among the bunch that felt excited for the evening. They hadn't had a great feast since the opening of term. However, his mood got a huge damp during the History of Magic lesson they had just before the school day was over. For once, they didn't talk about Goblin rebellions, but what they talked about was, in Harry's opinion, even worse.

"Today is a very special day. Does anyone know why?" Professor Binns asked. The old ghost sounded as bored as usual, and the class inwardly groaned as they thought they would be talking about yet another goblin rebellion that ended on this day centuries ago. However, the professor surprised them all when he said:

"On Halloween 10 years ago, he-who-must-not-be-named was defeated and perished from this world. Therefore, wizards and witches all over the country tend to celebrate the defeat of the most dangerous of dark wizards of all times during this very day."

Harry felt himself freeze where he was sitting in his seat. If this was the day when Voldemort was defeated, then that meant..

_This is the day my parents died!_ he thought in shock. Beside him, both Hermione and Neville glanced at him with worried expressions written all over their faces, no doubt understanding as well what this meant. It took a little while before Ron caught on but when he did, he looked over and met Harry's eyes and nodded, silently giving support to the boy he had come to regard as his best friend. Harry gave his friends a thankful nod, before turning his way back towards the front. Professor Binns kept on talking about how the "great Harry Potter" had somehow vanquished the dark lord and brought peace to the world, seemingly unaware that the very same Harry Potter was sitting in a school bench on the third row in his own classroom. The longer the lesson went, the more people seemed to understand what this meant for Harry. Susan Bones, who was sitting at the first row, turned around after a few minutes when she seemed to realize that this was the day Harry's parents had died and shortly after, Hannah Abbott and Ernie Macmillian did the same. Justin Finch-Fletchley called on Harry's attention by throwing a crumbled parchment at his back from the fourth row and gave him a reassuring smile. Seeing the care in his friends eyes when they looked at him, Harry felt emotions stirr in his chest. He had great friends. After the lesson ended, the group of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors gathered around him.

"How are you feeling Harry?" Susan asked, seemingly worried about it. Harry thought that had it been anyone other than Susan, and possibly Ginny, who had asked that question, he had probably snapped. But Susan had also lost her parents to Voldemort, so somewhere deep inside, Harry felt like Susan could understand how he was feeling.

"I'm alright. Just a little shaken, that's all. I didn't realize what day it was until Professor Binns mentioned it." he said, truthfully.

"It was very insensitive of him to just stand there and state facts about it as if you weren't even there." Hannah piped up.

Harry just shrugged at that. His Gryffindor friends all mumbled in agreement with Hannah, though Ron snorted.

"Please, that senile old ghost still thinks he is teaching his class from 1967 so I don't think he even recognized that Harry _was _there." he said.

At that, Harry couldn't help but laugh. It sounded so horrible but yet it sounded so true. Apparently, the others had similar thoughts as they all snickered at Ron's comment, though Hermione had a disliking look on her face for Ron's disrespect for the teacher. They rounded a corner where they were supposed to split up to head to their respective dormitories, but before the Hufflepuffs could leave towards their common room, someone emerged from that direction.

"Hey Harry!" the tall boy called through the corridor.

Harry, who had been on his way towards the Gryffindor tower, turned around to find Cedric Diggory walking towards him.

"Hey Cedric. What's up?" he asked, trying to put on a smile but not quite managing.

The older boy walked up to Harry and his friends.

"I would like to talk to you for a moment? In private?" he asked kindly, while giving Ron, Hermione and Neville an apologetic smile for stealing Harry from them.

"Sure. I'll see you in the common room guys." he said.

Harry handed his bag to Ron to take to his dorm, then followed Cedric. The two friends walked in silence, Cedric leading the way. Harry idly wondered what this was about, but in truth he had a pretty good idea why. And sure enough, after a little while, Cedric spoke up again.

"I know what day it is today Harry. How are you feeling?" he asked.

Harry sighed. Suddenly, it seemed like that was all people wanted to talk to him about. Not that he didn't mind their worry, it actually felt good to know he had such good friends, but it was getting kind of annoying.

"I'm fine." he said simply.

Cedric gave him a searching look, showing that he wasn't surprised by this reaction in the slightest.

"Ok, I get it. But I just thought I'd show you this." he said as they stopped in front of a paining of a large fruit bowl.

When Harry raised a questioning eyebrow, Cedric just grinned and reached out with his hand to tickle to pear in the painting. And to Harry's great surprise, the pear began laughing before it turned into a doorknow. A real doorknob which Cedric grabbed and used to pull open the hidden door behind it. Motioning for Harry to follow him, he led him down a set of spiral stairs. As they made their way deeper down, Harry felt his curiousity spike.

At the bottom of the stairs, there was another door which opened to reveal a large room. Following Cedric into the room, Harry felt like he had just stepped through a wall of heat. The temperature inside the room was noticebly higher than in the rest of the castle. Everywhere he looked, he saw strange, small creatures hurrying about, carrying a tray of something. After looking around the room a second time, Harry realized that they must be in the kitchen.

"Welcome to the Hogwarts kitchens Harry." Cedric said with a smile as he made a waving motion towards the room. This apparently caught the attention of the strange creatures, and one of them hurried towards Harry and Cedric as fast as its short legs could carry it.

"Welcome back, mister Diggory. Can us get you something?"

Harry frowned at the strange speech habit of the small creature, but he supposed he should be more surprised that it could speak at all. Cedric politely declined the offers of various food that the creature suggested before explaining to Harry that these were house elfs. They handled the food here at Hogwarts and one could also find them in old, rich wizarding families.

"I thought that if you wanted to have some time alone tonight, you wouldn't need to worry about going to dinner." he said as an explanation as to why he had showed Harry this.

He hadn't been aware of it, but suddenly the thought of getting some time alone to mourn his parents passing on this day sounded very appealing. Not that he wanted to sink into despair or anything but simply to pay them his respect.

"Thanks Cedric, I appreciate it." he said.

**-:-:-:-**

Ronald Weasley had always been a very gluttonous boy. He even admitted it himself. He always took 3rd rows and rarely left anything on the plate. But for some reason, he didn't feel like this was a day to glut. Harry had come back to the common room to spend some time with him and their friends, during which time Ron had beaten him in chess twice, but he had seen that Harry's mind wasn't really in the game. Well, not that it was very surprising. He had just gotten to know that this was the day his parents had died so it was only natural that he was a little shaken up.

Before Harry had come back from his talk with Cedric, Hermione had pushed them to make sure they didn't bring his parents up when Harry got back. Ron thought she was mental and that Harry would probably feel better after talking about it, but he didn't argue when Hermione pulled out her wand and reminded him that she was the best in their year when it came to hexes. After that, Ron decided to just try and not think about it.

But as it was, he failed terribly. There wasn't much that could still his gluttony, but apparently the thought of his best friend's parents could. When they were about to go down to the feast, Harry had stayed behind, saying he wanted to be alone for a little while. Ron had wanted to protest, but a warning look from Hermione had been enough to silence him.

Ron sighed as he looked down on his plate, which was still only half eaten. And this was just his first plate. Perhaps he should go and see how Harry was doing? He looked over towards Hermione, who seemed to be thinking along the same lines, despite her earlier statement that they should let Harry sort it out on his own. She caught his eyes and nodded towards him. He was just about to tap Neville on his back to call on his attention when the doors to the Great Hall burst open.

"T-trooolll in the dungeon! Troll in the dungeon!" a panicking Professor Quirell screamed as he rushed into the hall, silencing all conversation and causing the teachers at the head table to hastily rise from their seats.

"Thought you outa know..." was all Quirell got out before fainting on the floor.

A second passed before the entire hall burst into panic. Students were running towards the exit, screaming in panic and some older students made vain attempts to calm down the first years.

"SILENCE!" Dumbledore's powerful voice bellowed, immediately causing all activity to come to a halt. "Everyone, please remain calm. The prefect will take the students back to their houses. All teachers follow me to the dungeon!" he instructed.

Activity started up again, but it was a lot calmer now than it had been just 20 seconds ago. Ron, who had been among the ones to panic, felt a lot calmer now that he knew what to do. He, Hermione and Neville began making their way back towards the common room. Hopefully, Harry would still be there. Unbeknownst to them, Harry was NOT in the common room.

**-:-:-:-**

Harry had just finished his meal down in the kitchens when he heard the commotion upstairs. At first he didn't think much of it, but when he checked his watch, he realized that it was way too early for the feast to be over. He asked one of the house elfs about what was going on and after popping away for a moment to check, the elf returned with the news that there was a troll lose in the dungeon. Frowning at this, Harry decided it was probably best to head back to the common room. That was probably where Dumbledore had sent the rest of the students. Thanking the house elfs for a brilliant meal, Harry made his way up the stairs.

After exiting the secret passage behind the fruit bowl painting, he hurried towards the stairs that would lead to the Gryffindor common room. While he was running, his mind was working in overdrive. How could a troll get into the castle? From what he knew, there didn't live any trolls in the forest and aside from that, there wasn't any part of the school grounds that housed magical creatures.

He turned around a corner and was about to take off at a higher speed, but froze dead in his tracks. There, at the end of the corridor, stood a fully grown mountain troll. Apparently, it had left the dungeon.

When the troll spotted Harry, it took a moment to take in the sight of the 11 year old boy at the end of the corridor. Slowly, Harry was starting to ease his way back towards the corner he had turned around, hoping to avoid catching its attention. He felt the adrenaline pump through his veins and his entire body trembled slightly for every step he took, praying to whatever god there was out there that the troll wouldn't come at him. When he reached the corner, he took a deep breath and jumped behind it. Bad descision. As soon as he was out of sight, he heard the troll give off a roar and heavy steps making their way through the corridor. He broke off into a run again, but the troll's longer legs apparently gave it an edge because he hadn't gotten half way to the next turn before the troll appeared from behind the other corner.

Harry swore as he tried to push his legs to move faster, but he was already at his limit. His heart pounded painfully in his chest and his breathing was unsteady and close to hyper-ventilation. When he passed the painting of the fruit bowl, he felt like he was about to fall at any given second. Desperate for any kind of shelter, he tickled the pear and threw the door open to the secret passageway and dove behind it, closing it in the process. He leant against the wall inside, panting as he never had before, not even after quidditch practice. He heard when the troll came to a stop, just outside the painting. He covered his mouth with his hand, not knowing if his panting could be heard through the secret door, but not too intent to find out right now.

He waited with all his mind on edge, trying to pick up any sound that would suggest that the troll had left. But the sound that came was not one he had wanted to hear. Through the painting, a low, slurping sound could be heard and to his horror, Harry realized that it was the doorknob that melted back into the painting. If the troll was still outside...

Reacting on instinct, Harry threw himself to the ground and not a second later, the trolls large wooden club came through the secret door, missing his head with just a few inches. Harry rolled a few steps down the staircase and came to a painful stop, his entire body aching from the rolling. He looked up to see the troll looking down at him with a clueless look, as if it was trying to figure out where Harry had come from. Thinking he had a second to get a head start, Harry was just about to rush down the stairs when he realized that it would be futile. There was no escape route down there. All he would do was put the house elfs in danger.

Looking back up at the foul creature that stood at the top of the stairs, he all logical thinking leave him as he pulled out his wand and did the only spell he knew he could perform with fail.

"**Validus Corripio!**" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

A sickening crack was heard, followed by a pained roar from the troll, who began struggling against the invisible force holding it. With a sense of horror, Harry realized that he had not tried to surpress his magical reserves when he cast the curse as he usually did and the overwhelming power had caused the grip to tighten enough to crack some bones in the trolls body. Seeing the troll in pain, even though it had tried to kill him, Harry forced himself to take a deep breath and try to get his magic under control. Slowly, the grip on the troll grew lighter. However, the lighter the grip grew, the more the troll began struggling, obviously not realising that the struggle was the reason behind its pain. Feeling as if his grip was slipping, Harry twisted his wand to the left, sending the troll flying into a wall with its head first before releasing the curse. His breathing trembled as he looked at what he had done.

As Harry slowly walked over towards the troll, that was either dead or unconcious, he didn't even notice the sound of running steps closing in on his position. He was standing over the troll with an expression of horror at the thought that he might have just killed another living being when Professors McGonagall, Quirell and Snape came aorund the corner. Taking in the scene, McGonagall had to stop and placed her hand over her heart in shock. Snape however, took more notice of the boy standing over the defeated mountain troll.

"Harry?!" he almost shouted as he ran over towards the boy he almost called his surrogate son.

Hearing his favorite uncle call his name, Harry finally tore his gaze away from the troll at his feet and looked up in time to be engulfed in a sea of black cloth. Shocked at the sudden hugg, Harry took a few moments to realize that it was his uncle Sev that was hugging him. When he got ahold of himself, he hugged back and he felt the tears of guilt fall from his eyes. For a few minutes, during which Professor McGonagall and Quirell walked up to them, Harry and Sev stayed like that before Sev broke it off and looked Harry over.

"What in Merlin's pants happened here Harry?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Taking a deep breath to try and steady his voice, Harry set into telling them the short story of what had driven him to go up against a mountain troll, from him being in the kitchen and getting to know about the troll, to running into it on his way to Gryffindor tower. When he was done, Professor McGonagall once more held her hand to her heart while Severus had a look of pride and fear on his face. While he felt like he had been just one single misstep from losing Harry, he also couldn't help but feel extremely proud of his favorite student for how he had held his own.

"Harry, what you did was nothing wrong. You tried to avoid a fight in the first place and when you had the chance to run away again, you chose to stay in order to protect those who couldn't protect themselves. While I can't say I quite approve of you going up against a mountain troll, I think you have deserved a good 50 points for your heroic actions, wouldn't you say Minerva?" he asked as he turned towards Harry's head of house.

"Yes... yes, yes of course. Just try not to get involved in something like this again, ok Harry?" she said, still a little shocked at the revelation that a 11 year old boy had taken down a mountain troll.

Promising to never seek another fight like this one, Harry turned back towards the troll on the ground. It hadn't moved at all since he knocked it out.

"Is it... dead?" he whispered.

Quirell went over to look at the troll. He pulled out his wand and did some advanced wand movements over the body while mumbling something that sounded like it was in a foreign language before he turned back to the three others.

"Y-yes. I-i think it i-is." he got out.

Hearing that he had indeed killed something, Harry gave off a panicked squek that got Severus blood to run cold. Not that he didn't understand, he still remembered the first time he had taken a life. It had been a horrible feeling, and he had been 18 years old back then. It had been in a battle between the Death Eaters and the Order of the Phoenix. It had been the first time Severus had seen Lily since they graduated and he had been extremely stressed to find her on the other side of the battle. He had been wearing his mask and tried to act as normal as possible, but when one of his comrades, if you could call them that, had turned his wand on Lily, Severus had panicked and sent a killing curse at him, instantly killing him. That feeling of taking the life of a living being, knowing that the man would never ever wake up again, had been unbearable and he had been in a shock state for days. Now, it was just a troll Harry had killed, but Severus also knew that Harry was much more compassionate than he was and a lot more respectful towards all kinds of life. Just the fact that he had been willing to fight the troll alone in order to protect _house elfs _proved that. The poor boy was probably still in shock.

"I don't want to interrupt Severus, but I think Mr Potter really should get back to the common room. His friends must be very worried for him, and I think he needs to feel that he has their support in this." Professor McGonagall broke in with a hesistant but firm voice.

Severus nodded slowly. Harry's mind appeared to have shut down in reaction to the knowledge that he had killed something. The poor boy was just staring in front of him with unseeing eyes.

"Very well, but I am staying with him." he said with a voice that didn't leave any room for arguments.

Professor McGonagall just nodded at this and the two Professors led the raven haired boy back towards the Gryffindor common room. Harry didn't resist being led through the corridors, neither did he react to anything. Severus tried to whisper soothingly to him but got no reaction or even recognition that he was there. The Fat Lady didn't even ask for password when the two Professors came leading the traumatized boy towards her, simply giving them a sympathetic look and swinging open.

"I DON'T BLOODY CARE WHAT YOU SAY PERCE! I AM GOING TO FIND HIM!" was the first thing that greeted the trio as they entered.

"Calm down Ronald or I am going to call Professor McGonagall!" Percy Weasley roared back at his younger brother, who was being held back by the twins in the middle of the common room.

All students were standing along the walls, giving space to the family row that was taking place. It would appear that Ron had been trying to sneak out of the common room to go look for Harry, but was caught by someone who told Percy. Hermione and Neville was giving Ron a worried look, though it couldn't have been more obvious from their faces that they too had been all too keen on getting out to look for Harry. Minerva and Severus came to a stop as the portait closed behind them. Just as Minerva was about to announce their prescence, one of the twins spoke up.

"Yeah, you really should calm down, ickle Ronniekins..."

"...or mum is gonna have a fit when Percy send that bloody owl of his to tell on you!" the other one finished.

Percy looked annoyed at the insult to his owl, but decided to let it slip for now. He was just about to say something more when Minerva spoke up.

"Stop this argument this instant! Harry is fine, so no need to worry!" she said with a clear and strong voice.

This caused all eyes in the room to turn towards the entrance, where Severus was leading Harry towards one of the couches by the fireplace. Seeing their friend, Ron relaxed in the twins grip and Hermione and Neville rushed over with relief written all over their faces. After taking a moment to be sure that Ron wouldn't blow up again, the twins let go of their younger brother and hurried over to the raven haired boy.

"Harry! What happened? How do you feel? Where were you?" The questions hailed over the boy who remained unresponsive. After a few seconds, they realized that Harry was not reacting to them at all. However before anyone could say anything, Professor McGonagall spoke up again.

"Everyone return to your dormitories! Don't ask any questions, just do as you're told!"

Seeing that McGonagall really meant business, the students of Gryffindor didn't question the order and began making their way over towards the stairs. A lot of people sent worried glances towards Harry while they passed by. Most Gryffindors had grown quite fond of the boy since the beginning of term and seeing him in a state like this put everyone slightly at unease.

When the common room was cleared of everyone but Severus, Minerva, Harry, the Weasleys, Hermione and Neville, Hermione turned towards Professor McGonagall with a worried look on her face.

"Professor, what happened? Why is Harry in this state?"

Professor McGonagall felt torn about what to say. These were Harry's friends and they deserved to know what had happened to him, but she was worried that they would not take to the news so well. However, the descision was taken out of her hands when Severus spoke up.

"Harry is suffering from a mental trauma."

And with that, he retold Harry's story exactly as it had been told by the boy himself. The younger Weasleys all looked gobsmacked when they got to the point where Harry had run into the troll and Hermione's face took on a look of horror when Severus told them that Harry had refrained from running away and instead turned to fight the troll when he realized the house elfs would be in danger if he ran away. When he finished by saying that Harry had somehow killed the troll, Neville looked pale and Hermione queked in shock.

When he was done, no one said a word for a few moments. The Weasleys, Percy included, was staring at Harry with a mix of shock, awe and pity and Hermione looked like she was close to tears as she looked at the still unresponsive boy that sat with Severus left arm around his shoulder, staring out into nothingness.

"But how did Harry manage to kill a mountain troll?" Ron broke the silence.

Professor McGonagall turned her gaze towards Severus, as did everyone else in the room.

"Yes, that is a good question. You know the boy better than anyone Severus. Any idea how he might have managed it?"

Severus thought back to the scene he had come upon while searching for the troll. He had gotten quite a good look at the troll and it looked like its arms were lying unusally slack at its sides, even for a corpse. And the way it had been lying, with its head towards the wall that had been cracked from what had to be a hard hit...

"He must have crushed its skull." he said, causing the womans to gasp in shock and the boys to look sick. Not even the twins could find a funny way to look at this. Neville looked like he was about to faint.

"But how? He hasn't been able to perform any magic so far." Professor McGonagall whispered, still in shock at Severus theory.

"However, that isn't entirerly true. Harry have been able to perform magic here, but as he is used to performing magic without his wand as he learned while still underage, his subconcious mind still tries to force his magic to move in the same way as if he didn't use his wand. As a result, he automatically pulls on too much magic and it causes basic spells like the Levitation charm or anything you would do in class to shut down due to a magical overload. I have been teaching him to control his magic better and get used to using a wand by teaching him the Gripping Curse."

Hearing that Severus had been teaching Harry a NEWT level curse, Professor McGonagall gasped for who knows what time this evening. Normally, the Gripping Curse was a high NEWT level curse due to the power required to cast it and more than 50% of the students failed to learn it before graduating even then.

"But..." Severus continued. "...Harry's magic is still out of control when he uses his wand and so, he tends to grip too hard when he uses it, causing whetever he is gripping to get crushed. I noticed that the bones in the trolls arms had been forcefully bent inwards, similar to the result of Harry's uncontrolled gripping curse. And as you should know Minerva, the gripping curse can be used to throw or toss an object or person, which leads me to believe that Harry, knowingly or not, twisted his hand to the left, sending the troll head first into the wall with enough power to crack its skull." he finished.

If anyone was unnerved by the fact that he could talk about cracking skulls and strangely bent limbs as if he was talking about the weather, they didn't show it. The children, with the exception of Hermione and Percy, looked awed at the power that Harry seemed to posess. Minerva however glared at Severus with a disapproving look.

"You taught him the Gripping Curse of all curses, spells, charms and hexes in the world? You, if someone should know how dangerous that one can be if used the wrong way, not to mention if the person in question can't control his magic!" she said with a stern look on her face that promised Severus that they would talk more about this later.

"Why would Snape of all people know that?" Ron asked before Hermione stomped him on his toes.

Severus looked down at his surrogate son's best male friend. For a moment, it looked like he would tell the boy off for asking, but after looking over his young protege's friends, his face broke out into a slight smile.

"I would know all about that curse, because it was me who created it." he said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Hearing about this feat, the gathered students gasped and the Weasleys in particular looked at Severus with a whole new respect. Neville and Hermione were both always respectful towards teachers so the change wasn't as visible in them, but they too seemed impressed by this. Minerva, while still feeling a little sour that Severus had not consulted her before teaching her student such a potentially dangerous curse, couldn't help but feel a little relieved as most of the tension that had settled among them while they spoke about Harry's first kill lifted. She sincerily hoped that Harry would not be forced to take another life, even in self defense, but she knew that there was still one more person out there whom he must stop, whom it was his fate to kill or be killed by. Severus had told her about the prophecy as proof that he trusted her after they had made up that night when the Potters died and its contents had shaken her to her core. The mere thought that this boy, who was now sitting unresponsive among them, was destined to kill or die at the hands of the most powerful dark wizard of all times made her feel sick to her stomach.

"I think I'm going to go back to my office now." she said. "Please make sure Mr Potter is ok. If there is any trouble at all, don't hesitate to call me back."

She recieved a collective nod from the group and left the common room. With McGonagall gone, the group fell silent again for a little while. All of them, including Percy, kept casting glances at Harry who seemed to be falling asleep as the exhaution from the battled settled in. Severus carefully put him down on a pile of pillows to allow himself free movement again and leant back, looking down on Harry sleeping.

"He will be alright, right?" Neville asked, sounding worried that Harry wouldn't wake up again.

Severus cast a glance at the boy whose parents he personally had avenged before turning back to Harry again.

"Yes he will. The trauma from the experienced, combined with the shock from having actually killed another living being have caused his mind to shut down in order to protect him from the trauma. It is a natural reaction caused by the human mind to protect us from experiences our minds can't fully handle or comprehend. Give it time and he will be fine." Severus said.

They all fell silent again after that. They just sat there for a little while, everyone thinking about a way to try and break the uncomfortable silence but no words were spoken for a whole 10 minutes. Finally, Hermione gathered up her courage to break the silence.

"So, Professor Snape? You got a liscense to create new spells? Isn't that really hard to get and even harder to pull off?"

Severus looked up from Harry to set his eyes on the girl who had spoke. Studious as always, he thought. Hermione Granger had so far proved to be an excellent student, always wanting to learn more and having an insatiable hunger for knowledge. It was a big mystery that she hadn't been placed in Ravenclaw.

"The liscence is hard to get, especially since there are so many things that can go wrong when testing out a new spell. One needs to do very precise calculations and careful studies about the properties of the spell you are trying to create. But the truth is, I have been doing it since I was in school in my fourth year." he said and revelled in the stunned looks he recieved from the boys and the look of shock, mixed in with awe, he was getting from Hermione.

"Actually." he added as an afterthought. "I wouldn't be surprised if Harry was to walk in my footsteps on that. He certainly has the drive to do it, and no doubt the ability."

Percy looked like he wanted to protest on this encouragement of rule breaking but wisely decided to hold his tongue when he realized no one would listen to him anyway. Ron in particular looked surprised by the teacher's claim.

"You do?" he asked with an uncertain voice as he looked down on his best friend. Behind them, the fireplace crackled as new wood was magically put into it.

"Yes I do." Severus said as he looked down on Harry fondly. "When I look at him, I can see so many other people I've known in my life. His parents, myself, Albus and in a way, even Voldemort." he said, ignoring the flinches at the dark lords name. Seeing that they were taking it the wrong way when Ron looked offended and ready to blow agian, he smiled reassuringly and continued. "No, I don't mean by the darkness. What I mean is by the power. Among all wizards in the last century, Voldemort (ignores flinches) have been the only wizard ever to best Professor Dumbledore in a duel. Albus Dumbledore beat Grindewald in what is regarded as the greatest wizarding duel ever, but even he couldn't meassure up to Lord Voldemort's power. But his power is not all I see in Harry, but what's more important is his will to prove himself. That same will to keep surprising everyone around him in order to earn the attention he is getting was what drove Voldemort to become the strongest among all dark wizards and it is what will drive Harry to become a great wizard himself."

The children looked awed, and a little bit scared, that he knew so much about Voldemort. Severus smiled slightly before getting a mishievous glint in his eyes.

"Of course, don't tell Harry I said that. But I think that you all already knew, deep down, that Harry was special when he came here, and not just because of that crap about the "Boy Who Lived". He is a very unique person."

Not really thinking about what they were doing, all 6 children nodded their heads. Even Percy had to admit that Harry was special. And tonight had proved it, even if it was in a most brutal way. Harry was destined for great things. Ron knew it. Hermione knew it. Neville knew it. Fred and George knew it. Severus definetely knew it. And somewhere deep deep down in his heart of hearts, Harry knew it too. He wouldn't admit it even if he really believed it, but hidden deep down in his heart, Harry knew that he was special.

**-:-:-:-**

The first thing Harry felt when he began to stirr was that he felt cold. He definetely wasn't in his bed in the dormitory. Feeling around with his hand, he realized that he was lying on a couch. He tried to open his eyes, but was met with heavy resistance. His head ached badly as he tried to force his eyes open. What had happened to him? He tried once more to open his eyes and this time, they moved slightly. He groaned as he felt his back ache. Wherever he was, he sure as hell hadn't picked a good place to take a nap. Why was he asleep anyway? He hadn't gone to bed from what he could remember. Actually, he couldn't remember much at all of what had happened after he had run into... the troll! Suddenly, it all came back to him. Hiding in the stairscase that led to the kitchen, being found and fighting back with the Gripping curse and killing the troll... He had killed another living being...

"Harry?"

Hearing his name being called, Harry forced his eyes open enough to see a mass of red standing over him. After blinking a few times, he realized it was the Weasleys, all 4 of them. To their right was Hermione with a concerned look on her face, and Neville who just looked happy he was awake.

"Hey guys." he said as he forced himself into a sitting position. His joints ached from the movement and he began to move his arms and legs to try and get his blood circulation back to normal.

"How do you feel?" Hermione asked.

Harry grimaced as one of his joints gave a crunching sound, singaling that it really was not in shape at the moment.

"Stiff as a stick, but otherwise pretty fine. I suppose I should be happy to be alive at all." he said, trying to sound as if it didn't bother him.

He noticed that the others shared a look at this, but didn't say anything and instead attempted to stand up. His legs were a bit tricky at first, but after steadying himself with support form the Weasley twins, he managed to walk a few times back anf forth to try and loosen up the last of his joints and get his body back to full function.

"So, you remember what happened?" Hermione asked.

Harry looked at them, seeing that they all looked worried about him for some reason. Well, he couldn't really blame them, but right now he felt that he didn't want to talk about it.

"Yes I do, but I don't want to talk about it right now. We'll talk later, but right now, I want to do something to keep my mind of off that. Ok?" he asked.

To be honest, he hoped he wouldn't need to talk about it at all. What he had done yesterday... the thought that he had taken another life cut into his chest like a burning dagger and made him feel sick in himself.

"Well, if that's how you feel, then its your lucky day because Wood won't let you off playing the match, even if you would have died yesterday." Fred said with an attempted grin.

Harry stopped dead in his tracks. The quidditch match! He had completely forgotten about it in all the chaos yesterday!

"Fred you insensitive idiot! Harry needs to talk about..." Hermione began, but was cut of by Harry.

"NO! Harry doesn't need to talk about anything right now! Harry needs to get his mind off the fact that he almost got killed yesterday, but instead ended up killing a bloody troll!" he said sharply. While he wasn't angry with Hermione, quidditch sounded like a great idea to get his mind off of things.

With that, he went up to his dorm to get his quidditch gear. As soon as he was fully geared, he went back into the common room to find, Ron, Hermione and Neville waiting for him. It would seem the twins and Percy had gone down to breakfast by now. Without uttering a word, Harry climbed out through the portait hole and was on his way, with his friends close behind. He noticed that he seemed to recieve even more stares as he passed by in the corridors. He supposed it was his quidditch uniform. Only a select few Gryffindors knew that he was the house's seeker.

When he entered teh Great Hall, he immediately found himself at the recieving end of many stares. However, his gaze was fixed on one certain person who had risen from his seat at the staff table and was now making his way towards him with his black robes billowing behind him.

"Can I talk to you for a moment Harry?" Severus asked as he stopped in front of the group.

Harry just nodded and whispered to his friends to wait for him at the table. With that, he followed Severus who led him to an empty classroom. Once inside, Severus locked the door and cast a privacy charm on it so no one would be able to eavesdrop. With that done, he turned to Harry.

"How do you feel Harry?" he asked.

"Fine." Harry answere automatically.

Severus sighed.

"Ok, now tell me how you really feel?" he said with a firmer tone in his voice.

Harry flinched slightly from the harshness in the voice with which Severus spoke to him. Uncle Sev had never spoken to him like that. With a sigh, Harry finally faced what he had been trying to put off all morning.

"I don't feel good at all. I bloody killed another living being!"

Deciding to ignore Harry's use of swear words for now, Severus shook his head.

"Harry, what happened yesterday was out of your control. Trolls may not be the most intelligent of beings, but if it had not attacked you first, then you wouldn't have had to resort to violence at all. The troll could also have done something to prevent its death." he said with a firm tone, hoping this would get through to Harry.

"It was still me who cast the curse." Harry muttered.

Seeing that Harry wasn't going to give in, Severus sighed and sat down on a chair and motioned for Harry to do the same, which the boy reluctantly agreed to. As soon as he was seated, Severus grabbed Harry's shoulders and turned his head so that their eyes met.

"Who cast the curse doesn't matter. A lot of people died during the war and thought very few of them were killed directly by him, Voldemort carries a ceratin responsability in their deaths because he was still a key player to the fact that they died. If he hadn't decided to wage war, then those people wouldn't have died in the war. And the same goes for the troll. If it hadn't attacked you first, then you wouldn't have been forced to curse it. Got me?"

Harry still felt guilty about it all, but Uncle Sev was right. He always was. He hadn't gone looking for the troll and he hadn't picked a fight with it when he ran into it either. Seeing that Harry was starting to see reason, Severus continued.

"What you did when you stood up to protect the house elfs was very brave Harry. Not many 11 year old wizards would go up against a fully grown mountain troll in any situaiton, let alone do it to protect house elfs."

Starting to see reason, Harry felt like a large blob of black ink had just been removed from his chest. He hadn't realized how much this actually weighed down on him. He looked up at Uncle Sev and gave him a grateful smile before throwing his arms around the older man's neck. Severus looked shocked at first but soon returned the embrace.

"This is going to take time to digest, but you can always talk to me or your friends whenever you feel like it. I will even arrange for you to talk to Ginny face to face if that is what you want." he said in a soothing tone.

"Thanks Uncle Sev." Harry murmured before breaking away and standing up.

Severus too rose from his seat and pulled out his wand and waved it, which caused the chairs to jump back into place. For a few moments, they just looked at each other, Harry taking comfort in the knowledge that he had someone who understood him so well. Perhaps he should take Severus up on that offer to talk to Ginny? But before that, there was something else he wanted to make clear.

"Uncle Sev? Can I ask you a favour?"

"Of course Harry. What is it?" Severus asked with a smile.

Harry pondered how to say this, not wanting to sound like he was ungrateful towards the man, but decided it was best just to say what he felt.

"Would it be ok if you taught me another spell to use for wand practise?" he asked while blushing slightly in embarrasment.

Severus looked at him for a moment. He had acutally foreseen this question coming. After what had happened with the troll, he had figured Harry would rather use a less dangerous curse or spell for practise. So he had thought about it all night and come up with another spell that should be strong enough not to break down from Harry's current power level and control ( or lack of?).

"Of course. I got a good one in mind. Now, I believe you got a quidditch match to win, right?" he said with a smile.

Harry felt the tension that had been located in his chest since he woke up ease away and he couldn't help but grin as Severus took down the privacy wards and unlocked the door, before they went back to the Great hall, where Harry sat down with his friends.

* * *

**A/N: **_Well, I don't have much to say. I hope the action or explanations in this chapter dont make the story go higher than its rating. If you think it does, tell me and I will change the rating for it._

_Once more, thanks to all who reviewed. As you may have noticed, I've taken to answering questions in PM and will only bring up questions here that I feel many people have asked or that I feel all should know. _

_I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as the others and hope to see you back for chapter 11! Take care!_


	11. From Quidditch to Christmas

**A/N: **_Hello HP fans! I am soo sorry that this took illegally long time for me to post. Don't have any other excuse than school work and other stuff irl. But well, now here it is so no need to kill me, right?_

_I felt like I was writing longer chapters now, but I still had the same amount of words in the chapters so I had to check what that could be and then I realized... I am writing shorter ANs! So now you get more story and less "bla bla bla" from me! :D_

_Aside from that, I haven't gotten any more votes for the poll lately so I will close it. The winner was by far "make this into a series" so from now on, this story will be turned into a "book project", where one story covers one year, similar to the canon books. "Harry Potter: Hidden Prodigy" will be the first book in the series, thus the counterpart of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The serie will be called "Harry Potter: The Hidden Series", thus all the books will have the word "Hidden" in them. _

_I hope people will still like this story, even though it will only last for this year! :D As you may or may not understand, I will do some changes to the story in order for it to better fit this format. The storyline will be the same, I just want to change cover pic and some stuff like that. Don't worry, it will still be the same story._

_Now, I have given this chapter's "bla bla bla" and it is time to give you what you really came here for: the chapter! (duh)_

**Disclaimer:** J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter and all characters and stuff that originates from those books. I only own the story plot.

* * *

**Chapter Eleven: **From Quidditch to Christmas

_Dear Ginny!_

_I'm so sorry it has taken me a while to answer. There have been so much going on here at Hogwarts these last few days that I haven't gotten around to it. However, I hope this extremely extra long letter will make up for it! _

_First, I can offer my apologies. I should have warned you that the description said that Kurt tended to steal from the cookie jar in the shop, as well as chew on the customers shoelaces. So well, you can stop looking for both of those... _

_On the other hand, I'm happy that your mother allowed you to keep him. I admit I was a little worried that she wouldn't, after what you told me about your family and their views on charity. I hope none of you took it as an insult. _

_When it comes to magic, I still have trouble when performing any of the lower level spells or charms, though I am starting to get the hang of how to channel my power through the wand, rather than release it in a violent stream or try to force it to flow through it. There is actually a pretty scary story behind that too. On Halloween, someone let a mountain troll into the castle. When I was on my way to the dorm, I ran into the damn thing. After it chased me for a while, I couldn't run anymore, so I turned and used the only curse I can without fail: the Gripping Curse. Uncle Sev had been teaching it to me to try let me get a feel for how to use my wand. However I couldn't quite control it and ended up killing the troll..._

_Speaking of which, I don't think you got anything to worry about when it comes to having the same problem as me. My problem is that I am not accustomed to using a wand and because I am used to performing magic without it, I use too much power and can't quite focus it. You on the other hand, am already acustomed to using a wand, which was evident by your use of the Bat-Bogey hex on the twins during summer so you won't have the same problem. That might also be why you have trouble getting more power into your underage magic, because you are acustomed to using a wand, you have trouble pulling out more magic than what is nescesary for using a wand. I believe that is why so few can do wandless magic, because they are used to using a wand and can't pull out the higher power requirements. _

_Anyway, right after the troll incident, I had my first quidditch match..._

**...**

Harry felt his heart beat hard in his chest as he waited to be released onto the pitch along with the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team. He fingered the handle of his new Nimbus 2000, a gift from his Uncle Sev and the best broom in the entire world. It had come by owl this morning, shortly after he and Uncle Sev had their little talk about yesterday's happenings. So now he had the best broom, was praised as a quidditch prodigy and had beaten a troll. And yet, he still felt nervous. He shifted uncomfortably in his place, which did not go unnoticed by the team's captain, Oliver Wood.

"Scared Harry?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A little." Harry breathed out, not trusting his voice to stay steady enough for a longer answer.

Wood studied him for a moment, taking in his facial expression and the way he was holding himself.

"Don't worry. I was the same before my first game." he said, trying to sound reassuring.

Harry turned to look at Wood, to find the older boy looking down at him. Something about the way he was smiling told Harry that there was something he wasn't saying...

"What happened?" he asked.

Wood seemed to ponder how to answer, not sure if he ought to tell Harry the truth. Behind him, the Weasley twins were snickering, knowing full well what had happened in Wood's first ever quidditch game at the school.

"Eh... I don't really remember. I took a bludger to the head about 3 minutes into the game, and awoke in the Hospital Wing about a week later." Wood said at last.

Yeah... reassuring it was... Thinking about how much it must have hurt to take a bludger to the head, Harry felt his insides cringe. He had been in contact with bludgers during practice, but then they had been charmed to only hit with about 40% of their normal force. And he had thought _that _had hurt.

"Brilliant!" he got out before the gate finally opened to let the players onto the pitch. It was time for the first game of the season: Gryffindor against their arch rivals, Slytherin!

The cheers from the stands were deafening and Harry was almost tempted to put his hands over his ears to try and tune it out. If anything, his insides made a jump of nervosity at the sight of the packed stands. How was he supposed to focus on catching the snitch with the entire school following his every move?

Taking a deep breath, Harry followed his team out to the center of the field, where the Slytherin team was already waiting for them, along with Madam Hooch, who was going to act as referee. When they came to a stop opposite to their Slytherin counterparts, Madam Hooch told the teams that she wanted to see a just and fair game, from _all _of them. Harry thought it looked like she was looking pointedly at the Slytherin captain Marcus Flint when she said it, but he might have imagined it.

When Hooch put her whistle to her lips, Harry mounted his broom with his heart beating heavily in his ears and when when the whistle sounded, he was one of the first to take off. Having the best broom on both teams, Harry was quickly above all of the others.

"_And the players takes to the air and the quaffle is taken by Angelina Johnsson of Gryffindor!" _Harry heard the twins friend Lee Jordan shout from his place in the commentator's booth.

Tuning out all sound he could, Harry began searching for the snitch. He noticed that the Slytherin seeker, Higgs, was following him closely, obviously not wanting to be too far behind if Harry should find the snitch. Wood had told Harry that Higgs was still riding a Cleansweep 4, far inferior to anything from the Nimbus series from the last 5 years. If Harry found the snitch first, then Higgs would need to be able to come after him quickly before he could pick up speed.

Harry began to circle the pitch, in the hopes of finding the snitch, Higgs tight on his heels. After 20 minutes, Gryffindor were leading with 90 - 40. Harry was just making a turn to start off towards the other side of the pitch when he spotted the snitch. It was hovering below the Slytherins' middle hoop. Without wasting any time, he shot off towards it at full speed. Higgs, who hadn't spotted the snitch yet, shot after Harry blindly.

"_And I think Potter has spotted the snitch!"_ Jordan shouted excitedly.

Harry felt his adrenaline rush through him as he raced towards the snitch, leaving Higgs far behind with his broom's superios speed and acceleration ability. A roar of excitement rose from the entire stadium as Harry shot through the sky like a lightning bolt but when he was half way, something happened. Without warning, his broom came to a stop and he was only a handgrab away from being thrown off from the sudden stop. The crowd stopped roaring, wondering what Harry was doing, but when the broom began tossing and rolling in all directions to try and throw him off, a roar of anger rose from the Gryffindor side of the field. Harry grabbed on for dear life and thought his heart would jump out of his chest when the broom made a particularly hasty turn and he fell off. The only thing that was now keeping him from falling was his right hand that was still holding onto the broom.

"_Whoever of you slimy Slytherins who is hexing Potter's broom; I demand you stop it this instant!"_ a furious Lee Jordan shouted in his magical microphone. Professor McGonagall didn't even reprimand him for being biased, as she too had a hard time to stay unbiased in this. Though she would never admit it, she too had a hard time believing anyone but a Slytherin would sink so low as to curse a Hogwarts student's broom to try and throw him off during a game. The fact that Harry had been on his way to catch the snitch when his broom was cursed, against Slytherin of all teams, didn't serve to lessen the likelihood of it being the work of a Slytherin or Slytherin supporter.

In the air, the Gryffindor beaters, Fred and George Weasley had decided to take revenge on the Slytherin team by taking one of the bludgers and sending it between them, hitting any Slytherin that came in their way, while Katie Bell had flown over to hover beneath Harry to be able to catch him, should he fall off. The Slytherins of course didn't care that Harry's broom was being cursed and used the distraction from the game to score three goals while the Gryffindors were occupied. Wood was screaming furiously at the Slytherins for their bad sportsmanship, but captain Marcus Flint just sneered back at him and sent the quaffle through the left hoop to score a fourth goal, making the result 90 - 80.

In the middle of all this, Harry was desperately clinging to his broom that was still trying to throw him off. He had managed to grab the handle with both hands, but was having a hard time to keep his grip firm as his hands was starting to get sweaty and slippery. If this kept up, he wouldn't last much longer.

In the stands, Ron, Hermione and Neville were frequently taking turns with Hagrid's binoculars to search for whoever was jinxing Harry's broom. Ron was searching the Slytherin stands, but none appeared to be doing anything other than either cheer for their quidditch team or laugh at Harry. Hermione was meanwhile looking at the staff stands suspiciously as she had caught sight of something. Professor Quirell was staring at Harry while mumbling something that none of the other teachers seemed to pick up on.

"Ron, give me the binoculars!" she whispered in a hurry and without waiting for an answer, snatched the item in question from the red haired boy.

"Hey! I was just about to..."

"Shush!"

Once she had gotten ahold of the binoculars, Hermione put them to her eyes and focused in on the teacher's stands. Two people were looking at Harry intently, while whispering something to no one in particular: Professor Snape and Professor Quirell. But out of those two, only Quirell would make sense, no matter how little sense that did. Quirell might be a nervous wreck, but Professor Snape loved Harry. The conversation they had in the common room yesterday replayed in her mind and after hearing that, she couldn't imagine Snape ever doing something to hurt Harry.

Giving Ron back the binoculars, Hermione told them she had to do something and ran off. Had she just waited a few more seconds, she would have seen that it would not have been nescesary as just 3 seconds after she disappeared out of sight, Harry's grip on his broom slipped and he fell.

"Harry!" Katie gave off a worried shout as she managed to grab his hand as he fell by her. Lowering her broom down in a hasty but short dive, she managed to throw him onto her broom in front of her.

"Thanks!" Harry gasped, still a little upbeat fromt the fall.

Katie immediately took off towards the Gryffindor hoops.

"Wood! Call a time out! Someone is trying to bloody kill Harry!" Katie shouted at their captain.

The Gryffindor captain was just about to call out to Madam Hooch when out of nowhere, a bludger came at him at full speed, knocking him off his broom. Wood fell to the ground, somehow managing to land softly on the ground. Katie paled as she realized that according to the rule book, only a captain can call for a time out. By putting Wood out of play, the Slytherins made sure they couldn't call the game to a stop to sort out the whole Harry's-broom-goes-crazy-thing.

"Katie! Take me down to Wood!" Harry shouted suddenly.

While Katie landed on the ground beside the captain, Hermione had made it to the teacher's stand. Without making a sound, she sneaked up underneath and pulled out her wand.

"**Incendio!**" she whispered as she pointed her wand on the purple cloth that hung down from Quirell's turban. Her job done, she quickly made her way back towards the Gryffindor stands.

Down on the pitch, Katie had just let Harry off a few feet away from Wood. The boy took off towards his captain in a hurry.

"Harry! What are you trying to do?" Katie shouted after him.

Instead of answering, Harry grabbed Woods Cleansweep 5 that was lying beside the unconcious Gryffindor captain. Mounting the broom in an instant and scanning the air for any sign of Higgs, he spotted the Slytherin seeker just going into a steep dive and, to his horror, he caught a flash of something golden just a few feet in front of the Slytherin's broom. Grabbing the handle firmer, Harry set off towards the point where the snitch most likely would pull out of its dive. Behind him, Katie gave him an impressed look for his creativity.

Harry felt the air rush against his face as he shot towards the snitch, just above the ground. He saw how Higgs pulled out of his dive when he got too close to the ground and for a moment, the snitch slowed down, obviously believing it had shaken its pursuer off. That was all Harry needed. In a matter of seconds, he had closed the distance between himself and the snitch and before the little golden ball could pick up speed again, he closed his fingers around it. Pulling up towards the stands, he raised his hand in the air, showing off his catch with a bright smile on his face and a warm feeling of pride rising in his chest, along with the cheers from the crowd...

**...**

_...so despite the set backs, we managed to win the game 240-110. Wood wasn't as bad off as we thought he would be, as he woke up just a few hours later. He still complains about a terrible headache, but at least he wasn't out for an entire week this time. We still don't know why Professor Quirell tried to curse my broom, but from now on, we will keep an eye on him. He claimed that he didn't do anything and as Hermione was the only one to actually see him do it, they decided to confiscate my broom to try it for any sign of outside interference. I have been riding one of he Cleansweeps from the school's broom shed ever since._

_The day after the match, me, Ron, Hermione and Neville went down to Hagrid's for a cup of tea..._

**...**

"Nonsense! Why would Professor Quirell try to hex Harry's broom?"

Harry sighed as Hermione went on to explain their theory for the 3rd time to Hagrid. When they had arrived at the big man's house, Harry had introduced his friends and Hagrid had invited them for a cup of tea in his hut. Neville had seemed kind of nervous in the beginning but had opened up as soon as he realized that Hagrid wouldn't try to eat him. As soon as everyone had gotten comfortable, Hermione had began explaining what she had seen during the match to Hagrid, which had been met with instant denial from Hagrid's part.

"Tha poor lad can barely put two words together without stuttering! Why in tha world woul' he wanna hex Harry's broom?"

"Well, he would have more reason than Snape. They were the only two people who were not breaking eye contact with Harry on his broom and that is the sole requirement to hex an object like that. I have read all about it!" Hermione tried to argue.

In his own mind, he didn't care why Quirell had tried to get him thrown off. He was more concerned that no one had done anything about it, except Hermione and obviously Uncle Sev. He knew full well that according to the rules, interference in a quidditch match from outside parties would result in the match being declared a draw and then terminated immediately, but shouldn't someone hexing his broomstick have counted as interference in the first place?

"Well, I dunno 'bout that, but Professor Quirell is an 'ogwarts teacher! He's here to protect the students, not try n' kill em!"

Harry tuned out their little discussion as he thought back to the incident at the quidditch pitch. If Katie hadn't caught him, he would have surely been in the Hospital wing still. Whoever had been hexing his broom had wanted him to get seriously hurt, possibly even hoping for his death. He hadn't been able to see who it could have been, but if Hermione was right and Severus and Quirell were the only candidates, he had to admit that Quirell was undoubtely the one. Severus had had the chance to kill him for several years, so if he had wanted to kill Harry, then Harry wouldn't have made it to the age of 5.

But why would Quirell want to kill Harry? He hadn't done anything to upset the Professor, if giving correct answers in DADA classes didn't count as offending. There had to be an alternative motive here. Perhaps he wanted Harry out of the way for a less personal reason, and more practical? Seeing as killing or hurting Harry in himself wouldn't serve a purpose like that, then what would? Perhaps he wanted to draw attention away from something else? Since Harry was the Boy Who Lived, a serious injury on his part would undoubtly draw a lot of attention, especially at the field where it happened, which in turn would mean that attention at the moment would be drawn away from the castle. Now what in the castle would one need to draw attention _away _from? Something that a lot of people looked at? Or something that could easily draw someone's attention?

"The dog!" Harry exclaimed as an image of the night when he and his friends had found the large three-headed dog flashed before his eyes. Severus had known that someone was there that time and if that was true, then he would surely have out some kind of warning to go off when someone entered the corridor. But if Severus was occupied with worrying about something else, then he might not noticed the warning go off. Or rather, if he was worried about _someone _else, someone who stood him close... Someone like Harry.

Hearing Harry's exclamation, all four sets of eyes in the room turned to look at him, confused. Apparently, they hadn't been talking about dogs when he had exclaimed it.

"What?!" Ron and Neville both managed to get out.

Harry looked up at Hagrid hesistantly for a second, before he came to the conclusion that as Hogwart's Keykeeper, Hagrid probably already knew about the dog so it couldn't hurt to bring it up.

"I think Quirell tried to get Severus attention away from the castle by hurting me. He wanted Sev to focus on me while he attempted to get past the giant three-headed dog on the third floor. Severus has an alarming system of some sort that warns him whenever someone enters the door but if he would be preoccupied with worrying about me, chances are that he wouldn't notice it going off!"

For a moment, all four of the room's other occupants stared at Harry with varying degrees of shock and surprise evident on their faces. Hermione was the one who recovered first, but she kept quiet, no doubt calculating the possibilities that Harry's theory was correct. After a few more awkward seconds, Hagrid broke the silence.

"Who told ya 'bout Fluffy?" he asked, almost sounding like he accused them of rule breaking. Or well, he probably was in a way, seeing as the third floor corridor where "Fluffy" resided was forbidden for all students to enter.

"That thing has a name?" Neville seemed to have forgotten his nervosity around Hagrid after being reminded that there was something that both looked more vicious and was more vicious than the large man sitting in front of him.

Hagrid looked offended that he had even asked. As if it was common sense one would name a giant three-headed dog something like Fluffy.

"Well, o'course he does. He's mine after all. Dumbledore borrowed him from me in order to protect..." Realizing what he was about to say, Hagrid cut himself off hastily.

"Yes?" Harry pushed, feeling excitement brew within him. Hagrid knew what was hidden underneath the trapdoor!

"I shouldn't have told ya that! What that dog is guarding is none of ya' business! That is something that only touches Professor Dumbledore and Mr Nicholas Flamel!"

Harry narrowed his eyes. That name... he had heard it somewhere before. If memory served him right, then Nicholas Flamel was a famous alchemist and a close friend of Dumbledore's. Severus had mentioned him once when he was visiting Dumbledore in the castle over the summer when Harry was 8. What was it he had said? Flamel was world famous for something specific, but what was it? It had been something that made him unique, something that made him stand out among even alchemists...

"Nicholas Flamel? Like in the famous alchemist?"

Hagrid looked a bit taken aback that Harry knew who Nicholas Flamel was. A look of fear shot across his face and he paled behind his black beard, causing a stark contrast between black and white. If the situation had been another, Harry would probably thought it looked funny.

To his right, both Ron and Neville also looked surprised that Harry knew who Hagrid had mentioned, but Hermione looked like something had dawned upon her. Her face was still a mask, hiding the gears that no doubt sped up inside her head after hearing Hagrid slip and tell them the name of who was involved in all of this.

"I shouldn't have tol ya that!" Hagrid exclaimed and began fiddling with his pocket watch. "Blimey is that the time?! I think you four better get back to tha castle!"

Leaving no room for objection, Harry sighed and went along with Hagrid's poorly made up excuse. He rose from his seat and a second later, Ron and Neville followed suit, still looking confused at the conversation. Hermione looked like she wanted to argue and stay to try and pry more info out of Hagrid but after Harry gave her a sharp look, she rose relucantly and followed her friends out of the hut. Harry heard Hagrid keep muttering "I shouldn't have said that... Shouldn't have said that..." to himself as he and his friends left and Hagrid closed the door. As soon as they were out of earshot from the hut, Hermione turned on Harry with an annoyed look on her face.

"Why did you let him shoo us away like that Harry? We could have gotten more information out of him if we just pushed to stay!" she growled. For once, Ron seemed to agree with the bushy haired witch. While he hadn't understood what was being said completely, he had understood what had been going on and he too wondered why Harry had been so quick to give in when Hagrid tried to get them off his feet.

"Yes that may be, but at what price? If we tried to push him for more information, he might have gotten too uncomfortable and nervous and went straight to Dumbledore, telling him what we knew. While I wouldn't mind Uncle Al knowing what we know, I would prefer not to make an enemy out of Hagrid for information we could most likely get through other means." Harry tried to explain his actions.

"What do you mean "get through other means"? Hermione demanded, still a little angry, but she appeared to see the reasoning behind Harry's actions as well.

Harry looked around as they got closer to the castle, to make sure no one overheard them. When he didn't see anyone, he leaned forward to whisper to his friends just to be on the safe side.

"The way the conversation was going, all we would have gotten out of Hagrid was who Nicholas Flamel is and we could probably get that from books in the library without arousing any suspicion. I know Uncle Sev told me about Flamel once, so I know he is an alchemist and that he have done something special in that area, which means we know what to look for. That will make it easy as we have already pinpointed what kind of info we are seeking."

**...**

_... so we have been spending some time in the library lately, but have yet to find anything of importance. Over the ages there have been many great alchemists and a lot of those have accomplished some amazing feats. To pinpoint a single one and his feats among them is a lot harder than I first thought it would be. But I remain confident that we will find him soon. _

_However, I don't spend even half as much time in the library as the others, seeing that I got quidditch practice and private lessons with Uncle Sev to attend as well. He kept his promise and have been showing me different spells and charms than the Gripping Curse. Those lessons are the ones I look forward to the most!_

_Now, I hope you are having a good time at home! Good luck with your training! And give Kurt and your parents my best! _

_Your friend,  
Harry_

**-:-:-:-**

"**Herbivicus!**"

Focusing all his magical power through his wand, Harry's brows furrowed in concetration as he saw the green stream of light connect with the flower that was standing on the floor. He grit his teeth together as he tried to control the amount of energy streaming through his wand as he watched the little budd open up and reveal a large red flower. He could feel the magic flow down his arm and through the wand into the flower, it was almost as if they were connected. It was almost as if he could feel the flower breathe when it had opened up enoug. Then, he tried to break the contact, putting a stop to the flow.

The flower remained open, but as soon as the contact was broken, Harry felt exhaution overtake him and began to feel dizzy. Seeing that his young protege was about to fall, Severus was quickly behind him with a chair that Harry fell back into. He studied Harry while he was taking a few deep breaths. The boy had come a long way since the began these lessons. He had started off with a stronger charm yet again, the Disarming charm to be more precise as it could stand a high amount of magical energy, yet not become overloaded or cause worse damage than sending the victim flying a few feet. After that, he had moved on to the Knockback jinx, trying to get Harry to send an object flying a more precise distance. He had drawn a circle on the floor where Harry was supposed to send the object, so he would have to focus on not sending it too far. This had greatly increased his way of handling magic, though it still took a lot out of him to do so at a lower level. They were currently working on the Plant-Growing charm. It required a lot more control than the two other they had been working on, as to not cause the plant to explode.

This was actually the first time Harry had managed to control the growth of the plant perfectly. Other times, he had either cast the spell with too much power, causing it to grow out of control rapidly or not been able to break off the charm when the time was right.

"You're getting better. I think soon you will be able to at least try to cast the levitation charm again."

Harry looked back up at his mentor with a tired look on his face.

"Is this supposed to be this exhausting?" he asked with a voice silently told Severus he was just about ready to collapse.

"No it isn't. But then again, an 11-year old is not supposed to be able to cast this charm at all." Severus answered with a smile.

Harry just sighed and leaned back in the chair. A few minutes of a break. At least he deserved that much. Severus watched as Harry drifted off to sleep. They had been at it a little longer than usual tonight, because Harry had insisted he was too close to getting it to give up now. Severus hadn't complained, he had time to spare. And Harry really was getting better. At the beginning, he hadn't been able to cast any spell without causing it to either disfunction or blow up whatever it hit. He hadn't even been able to make out what spell had been used, because they all just exploded when making contact with whatever it was cast on. Seeing that this training was paying off, Severus held hopes that by christmas break, Harry would be able to cast spells and charms more his age and catch up on the practical part of his classes where he had gotten behind.

"Well, better get him back to the tower somehow." Severus said to himself as he walked over to Harry and scoped him up. He had gotten heavy over the years. He kind of still expected to just feel the small soft baby he had held protectively from the Dursleys that day when he and Dumbledore had visited to make sure Harry was well cared for. But Harry wasn't a baby anymore. He might not be an adult, but he had grown up, far beyond his own years. Harry could see things that others his age couldn't, he could see the core of a problem, even when it was hidden. If Severus himself had had that ability when he was younger, then the world would look completely different. If he had just seen what was driving Lily away from him, then perhaps he could have prevented this from happening. But then, if he had then perhaps Harry wouldn't exist here today? Perhaps he would be holding his own son, not a surrogate son he had recieved from Lily and James dying? Perhaps Lily and James wouldn't even have ended up together?

He shook his head. It wouldn't do to dwell on that. Lily wouldn't have wanted him to. He shouldn't feel bad about how things had turned out, but he knew that a small part of him would always ache at the thought that Lily had chosen James Potter, his bully, over him. But it wouldn't do to get lost in the past and not see to the future. He couldn't change the past but do everything to make for a better future. For Harry, for himself and for all future generations.

**-:-:-:-**

Having finally gotten at least decently adept at surpressing his powers enough to perform some more basic spells, Harry spent all his free time working on the spells he had missed in both tranfiguration and charms. He still had trouble with the levitation charm in particular, but Severus said that was probably because he still focused his magic as if he wanted to levitate it wandlessly while he was using his wand.

He had however been succesful in transfiguration class and had as good as caught up with the rest of his class. The charms were a little trickier because they usually were more fragile than transfiguration, due to it needing a bit more... precise distribution of magical energy.

November flew by and before they knew it, snow was falling outside the castle walls. From the start of December, the entire student body found themselves in a christmas mood and some (the Weasley twins) found themselves in a mischievous mood. Said people had taken to hexing snowballs to fly around the grounds and attack unsuspecting students. Harry had found himself on the recieving end of that joke more than once.

Aside from his work in school, with quidditch and his private lessons, Harry always took the time to polish his wand with a handkerchief every evening before he went to bed. Thinking over what Olivander had said, he had decided that if the wand was somehow living, then it deserved some extra attention. Ron kept on repeating that he was mental, but Harry found that polishing his wand gave him a strange feeling of accomplishment. After all the work they put into learning magic and Harry's constant overload of the wand, Harry felt he should try and be gentle to his wand, no matter how strange it sounded.

He had read up a little on wands and their workings in order to better understand why his magic got overloaded and he found that the more he read about them, the more fascinated he became. There was so little known about wands, yet they were a constant occurance and key piece in a wizard's or witch's life. Once he was done with reading about the way magic was channelled through the wand, his original interest, he found that he kept reading the book he had gotten from the library. Apparently, there were a lot more cores for a wand than what Olivander had told him about. The wand maker had said he used Unicorn hair, Dragon Heartstring and Phoenix feathers, but aside from those three, there were a lot more one could use. For example, some other makers were known to make use of hair from a Veela, a magical female creature that reminded Harry of the sirens from ancient Greek mythology he had read about in primary school. A few amateur makers often used kneazle whiskers, though it was known that those were less powerful than other cores.

Harry had decided to read up more about magical creatures, since it appeared almost any creature with magical properties could be used to produce a wand core. So far, he had gained quite a good knowledge about magical creatures for his age, which Hagrid kept reminding him about whenever he went down to his hut to ask a question about a creature. The large man seemed delighted that Harry had such an interest in magical creatures and even more delighted that Harry would turn to him for guidance in the matter.

The sunday before the second week of december, Harry was sitting in the common room reading a chapter about a man who had created a wand by using a feather from a Hippogriff. The writer strongly recommended against it because the wand had ended up unable to focus its power through the tip and tended to send the spells in all directions, rather than in a focused stream of light from the tip.

He had just turned a page when Hermione sat down beside him. Ron and Neville were playing a game of wizarding chess, having gotten tired from spending 2 hours in the library searching for Flamel. Hermione had a nervous look on her face as she looked at Harry, as if he was about to get angry with her for whatever she was about to say.

"Harry? Can I talk to you?" she asked and swallowed. Yup, she was definetely nervous.

"Sure, what's up?" Harry said as he put a marker in his book and closed it to give Hermione his full attention.

The brown haired girl shifted uneasily in her seat as Harry looked at her with curious eyes.

"Well, I know I promised to stay here and help you in your search for Nicholas Flamel over christmas, but I just got this letter from my parents, saying they want me to come with them on a skiing trip over christmas break..." Hermione left that statement hanging in the air, knowing Harry would understand what she was trying to say.

Harry couldn't help but smile. Hermione had changed since they had that conversation by the tree when they tried to pick out Ginny's pet. She was much more eager to spend time with other people and had dropped most of her shyness around Harry, Ron and Neville. She wasn't as forward and talkactive when Harry was hanging out with Cedric or any of his Hufflepuff friends, but she wouldn't run and hide either. That she was worried what Harry and the others would think of her going home over break proved, at least in Harry's mind, that she regarded them as true friends.

"You have nothing to worry about. Neville isn't staying either. To be honest, I think Ron, me and the other Weasleys will be the only ones to stay in Gryffindor so you're not going to be the only one going home." Harry said with a smile to tell her that he was not angry that she wanted to spend time with her family.

Hermione let out the breath she had been holding and gave him a thankful smile.

"Thanks Harry. I'll bring some books from the library so I can keep looking for Flamel an hour before bed each day." she offered as a compromiss.

Chuckling at Hermione's sense of duty towards their group, Harry just nodded and opened his book again. Hermione followed his example and opened a book of her own. For a while, the two friends just sat there reading their respective books. After a little while, Neville gave up trying to beat Ron at wizarding chess and joined the two in their little corner. Harry relayed Hermione's plans for christmas to the others and Hermione felt relieved that Ron hadn't snapped at her for going home. He said that he himself probably would want to go home if his parents weren't going to Romania.

"It would be awesome to see the dragons Charlie is working with! I am almost jealous of Ginny for getting to go." Ron said, making sure to get the others to understand that he _wasn't _jealous of his little sister, just _almost_.

"I bet Ginny will write a long letter about it. I can tell you what you missed." Harry grinned at Ron's shocked and betrayed expression.

"Harry!" he exclaimed. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

Harry laughed at his friend, who was glaring at him as if Harry had just taken the last Chocolate frog from right in front of his eyes.

"Who ever said I was not on your side?" he said innocently.

Hermione rolled her eyes at their antics, muttering something that sounded like "boys". The talk from there shifted from christmas plans to what homework they still had to do (which certainly did nothing to increase Ron's mood). As usual, Harry and Hermione were done with most of theirs, while Ron and Neville still had some more stuff to do. Agreeing that both of them were not needed to help their friends, Harry went to go meet with Snape while Hermione stayed and helped the other two with homework.

**-:-:-:-**

When christmas morning finally arrived, Harry was awoken by Ron tossing a pillow at him. Groaning from being awoken, Harry just rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, ignoring Ron's laughs.

"Wake up sleepy head! You got presents to open!"

"I'll open 'em later..." Harry mumbled as he pulled his pillow over his head.

Even though he hadn't opened his eyes and had put a pillow over his face, Harry would bet his wand that Ron was grinning at him.

"Alright, I'll just tell Ginny you don't want her present then."

Suddenly, Harry was wide awake and threw the pillow half way across the room. Ron chuckled and went back to opening his presents. Harry shook his head to wake up completely and noticed a pile of wrapped up presents at the foot of his bed, Those had definetely not been there when he had went to sleep! His earlier sleepyness gone, Harry crawled over to the foot of the bed and grabbed the box that was lying on top. He found his chest constrict with happiness when he saw all the presents. He had of course gotten one each christmas, from Uncle Sev and the occasional present from Aunt Petunia when she found something cheap that he might like, but that felt ridiculus to this pile.

Reading the sign on the one in his hand, Harry saw that it was from Ron. He looked over to his friend, who smiled at him and nodded, encouraging him to open his gift. Harry grinned and gave him an appreciative smile before unwrapping the paper. Inside was an extra large package of Chocolate frogs.

"Thanks Ron!" he said, grinning at his friend. Somehow he had guessed that Ron would give him something like that, given his kind of... strained budget. Therefore, he had decided to give Ron something along the same lines and judging by the chocolate stains around his mouth, Ron had already opened that present.

"Thank you too Harry. Imagine my surprise when I open your gift and find the same thing you gave me!"

Harry grinned.

"I guess great minds think alike." he said, causing Ron to laugh.

Harry went on to open his presents one by one. Hermione had gotten him a book on wand making, obviously having noticed Harry's interest in the matter, and Neville had gotten him a wand polishing kit, with a note that it was a good habit to have. Hagrid had given him a home-carved flute. After having taken the obvious choice, Harry was surprised to find there were still a few to go. Of course there were a present from Ginny, but he saved that one for last. Aside from his best friend, Ginny's and Ron's mother, Molly, had sent him a home knitted jumper, which were Gryffindor red in color with a motive of a Golden Snitch on the front, no doubt Ginny had told her mother that Harry had become the Gryffindor seeker.

After Mrs Weasley's present, Harry found the usual gift from Uncle Sev, which contained a book on some higher level spells, _100 Useful spells and how to perform them. _Harry smiled as he figured Sev thought he could learn these, touched by the potion professor's faith in his abilities. He was surprised to find a small box from Susan Bones, containing a large Hippogriff quill. Feeling slightly guilty for not getting her anything, Harry turned the quill over in his hand. It was beautiful. The next gift was from another he hadn't thought of giving anything. Susan's best friend, Hannah Abbott had given him a very elegant ink-bottle, made out of a carved horn of some kind. Once more Harry felt guilty for not getting her anything.

On the bottom of the pile, Harry found a silvery package of some kind. Frowning, he lifted it onto the bed and opened it. It contained a cloak of some kind. The fabric felt smooth as silken and light as air.

"What's this?" he said out aloud as he swung it over his shoulders.

As he did, Ron's eyes widened as he stared at Harry. For a moment, Harry wondered what he could have done to make Ron stare like that at him, but then he looked down on his own body and found... nothing.

"My body's gone!" he cried in shock.

"That's no normal cloak! That's an invisibility cloak!" Ron exclaimed, going as far as to put down the pack of chocolate frogs he was holding.

Harry went over to the mirror to look at himself. Well, he could only see his head but that soon disappeared as well when Ron came over and pulled the hood over it. It felt weird to look in a mirror to find himself and not see anything. He felt like a vampire... or well, the kind of vampires usually featured in one of Dudley's cartoons. But who would send him an invisibility cloak?

Curious to see if he could find out who sent it, he went back to the bed and pulled back the hood. Ron followed him when he saw where his friend had gone and picked up a note.

"Here, look what it says: _Your father left it in my possession before he died. It is time it is returned to its rightful owner._"

Harry frowned.

"No telling where it came from?"

Shrugging, Ron gave Harry the note. Harry looked over the note with a raised eyebrow. Sure enough, it didn't say where it came from. However, there was another clue to where it could have come from. That handwriting... Harry was sure he had seen it before. But where?

"I recognise the handwriting but I can't remember where I have seen it before."

Looking at his bed, Harry noticed he still had one present left: Ginny's gift! Suddenly, where the invisibility cloak came from seemed unimportant to him as he just tossed the cloak onto the bed and hurried to sit down and pick up the gift from his best friend. Staring at it for a moment, he was overcome with worry. Would Ginny like the present he had bought for her and sent to her parents to take to Romania? What if she didn't? He knew he would like whatever Ginny had gotten him, simply because it came from her. But would Ginny feel the same way? What if she thought it was too much?

"Hey! Are you gonna open that or not?" Ron asked, curious to see what his sister had gotten his best friend.

Shaking himself out of his worries, Harry looked down on the package and began to slowly open it. Underneath the layer of paper was a small box. The surface of the box didn't give any hint as to what was inside. Slowly, he removed the top of the little white box to reveal a photo frame. Harry reached inside and took out the frame to look at. It appeared to have been carved by Ginny herself. It didn't have any advanced carvings, but the frame was covered in some kind of green glitter, except the lower part where the words: _Best Friends Forever_ were carved and burnt into the frame. The frame itself held a picture of a small, red girl with a childish face covered in freckles smiling at him from in front of a weird-looking building while she was hugging a small black kitten in her arms. Both the girl and the kitten was smiling at him and the kitten waved its paw through the frame. Harry felt his heart burst with luck as he looked at Ginny and Kurt smiling at him. Ginny looked so happy in the pitcure.

"It seems Ginny have been spending a lot of time in the shed." Ron said, sounding unimpressed.

Harry, who picked up on Ron's irony, just shook his head. Sure, it wasn't an expensive gift, like he had bought her, but this was just what he had wanted. Ginny had carved this frame, she had taken the time to go out into that shed of theirs and work for who knows how long just so she could give something to Harry. It didn't matter that it wasn't as elegant as it might have been if Ginny had asked any of her parents to make it for her, it didn't matter that parts of the frame were uneven or that it was covered in glitter. Just the fact that Ginny had spent her own time making this for him made it invaluable in Harry's eyes.

**-:-:-:-**

While Harry was opening his presents at Hogwarts, another child were looking down at the present she had recieved from her best friend in shock. Ginny had arrived in Romania with her family late the night before by portkey. Charlie had met them at the portkey point and taken them to a hotel in a nearby town. Because he lived in a small hut at the dragon reservation and often was awoken by the roars of the dragons or called in if one of them went out of control, they had decided it was better for his family to stay at a muggle hotel. Molly had so far been forced to hold back her husband from running off to check something out 8 times, and 3 of those he had been asleep and sleepwalking. How he had been sleepwalking and tried to check out the air conditioning system with closed eyes was still a mystery.

As soon as the clock had turned 08.00 in the morning, Ginny had been on her feet and rushed over to the pile of presents lying in a corner of their hotel room. Of course, her mother had insisted that they eat breakfast before they opened their presents and reluctantly, Ginny had went along with it. However, they had barely made it back to the room before Ginny had darted back to the corner and tore open her first present. She had quickly picked out Harry's present and put it aside, wanting to save it for last. Charlie had joined them halfway through their openings and given Ginny his own present: a necklace that was decorated with a single tooth from a dragon, a German Flaretooth to be exact. Their mother had reprimanded her son for giving Ginny "such an inapproriate gift", but Ginny liked it and immediately put it on with a sheepish grin on her face.

Now, Ginny had finally come down to her last present and her entire family, well the one present at the time at least, had been curious to see what she would get from her new best friend. Inside the Gryffindor-colored package had been a small box, which Ginny had eagerly opened and turned upside down to get out whatever was inside. But what had fallen out had caused the entire room to gasp.

"Is... is that...?" her mother whispered as she looked down on the object her daughter was holding.

In Ginny's hand rested a small golden locket, which was hanging from a chain made of the same material. Judging by the weight of the object, it was not a fake either. Ginny's eyes widened as she looked at the locket. The first thought that ran through her head was how much this must have cost. What was Harry thinking, giving her something like this? This was pure gold for Merlin's sake! It was probably worth more than all her other belongings put together!

"G-Ginny? Can I see that for a moment?" her mother whispered as she held out her hand.

Ginny was too shocked to object against it and simply handed the locket to her mother. The older woman took the golden chain with shaking hands and held it up against the light. Seeing the look in her eyes, Arthur went over and put his hands on her shoulders.

"This is pure..." Molly Weasley whispered as she stared at the gift her daughter had recieved.

"Molly." Arthur said with a soft voice.

Slowly, Molly looked up at her husband.

"How can we...?" her voice was helpless. She didn't want to accept such an expensive gift but at the same time, she had come to learn that Harry was not trying to buy her daughter. The two of them had been corresponding the entire school year and Hedwig spent as much time at the Burrow as she spent at Hogwarts.

"Remember what we talked about Molly." was all Arthur said as he looked down his wife.

Taking a deep breath, Molly held out the locket in her hand. Ginny, who had been watching the interaction between her parents silently, reached out and grabbed the locket and looked down on it. Charlie had so far stayed quiet but as his mother gave Ginny back an object that in his time in the family would have made her go through the roof, he raised an eyebrow.

"Am I missing something?" he asked.

His mother didn't seem to be in a good state to give the answer, so instead it was his father that answered.

"That gift was from Ginny's best friend, Harry. Ginny and Molly had a little row when Harry gave Ginny that little guy." he said this as he pointed at Kurt, who was sleeping in his basket in another corner of the room. "But since then Molly have gotten to understand that Harry have a lot of money and that he wants to spend them on Ginny because of their friendship. I guess her recieving something so... eh, expensive though might have gotten her to have a little relapse."

Charlie frowned. He hadn't been told that Ginny had a new best friend. Well, he hadn't been told she had a best friend at all. He looked down at his sister who was still holding the locket in her hand, staring at it, as if she didn't dare open it.

"Who is this Harry? I mean, what's his last name? I've never heard of the lad, but perhaps I went to school with one of his relatives?" Charlie wanted to know.

For some reason, both his parents shared an uncertain look, as if they weren't sure if they should be the ones to reveal that to him. After a moment, it was surprisingly his mother who spoke up:

"I don't think you went to school with one of his relatives. Harry is the last descendant of a very old and powerful wizarding line."

This just caused Charlie's frown to deepen. Why was his mother avoiding a straight answer? It certainly wasn't like her to beat around the bush, she usually went straight to the point. He had just opened his mouth to try and push for an answer when Ginny suddenly spoke up.

"Potter. His name is Harry Potter."

As she said it, Charlie felt like his world had fallen around him. He couldn't have heard that right. Or could he? No, there was just no way! It was ridiculus!

"Wha... What are you saying? That Ginny's new best friend is Harry Potter?! _The _Harry Potter?!" Charlie almost shouted, remembering clearly when he had first heard about the fall of the Dark Lord and the child who was responsible. In one night, _one night_, Harry Potter had gone from a normal baby boy to the world's most famous wizard. And then, he had disappeared. Today, some people doubted that Harry Potter had ever existed. While Charlie wasn't one of them, how could he believe that his own little sister had become friends with a legend?

"It is true. I have met him and Severus Snape confirmed his identity. Apparently, Harry have been growing up with his muggle relatives from his mother's family. He came back to the wizarding world shortly before his first year at Hogwarts and we ran into him in Diagon Alley while he and Severus were buying his school stuff." Arthur explained to his son.

Charlie looked down at Ginny, who had woken up her kitten, whom speaking of which Charlie had been unaware of that she owned until his family had appeared in Romania, and was currently showing the little cat creature the locket. Kurt was sniffing the locket carefully, trying to decided if it was dangerous. His dad had just told him that Ginny had been given Kurt by Harry... well that explains how such an expensive animal came into the possession of his little sister.

"I also met Harry, at Platform 9 3/4 before he and Ron went off to Hogwarts. He and Ginny really are best friends." his mother added.

While Charlie tried to come to terms with the fact that Ginny had become best friends with the most famous young wizard in modern times, the girl in question was currently taking the locket back to Kurt to open it. She felt her heart beat fast as she thought of what might be inside. Her mother had said that people usually kept a photo of someone precious to them in lockets in order to always have a piece of them nearby.

Biting her lip in anticipation, Ginny pressed the little button to open the locket and was rewarded by something that meant more to her than the locket itself. Inside was a picture of a young raven haired boy with emerald green eyes, dressed in scarlet red quidditch robes and holding onto a Golden Snitch in his right hand with a gleeful smile on his face. As Ginny looked down on the picture, the picture-Harry waved at her and pointed excitedly at the snitch in his hand. Ginny felt her lips drawn out into a smile. He couldn't have picked any better picture! This had to be from his first quidditch match! He had told her in a letter all the details of how the match had went and how it had felt to catch the Golden Snitch, but she had felt a little sad that she hadn't been able to see it. Now she could!

"Hey Charlie! Look!" she squeled as she jumped to her feet and ran over to her older brother.

The young man looked down at her with a curious look, still a little confused but interested as to what she wanted to show him.

"This is Harry! This is from his first quidditch match!" she cried happily, thrusting the locket in his face.

Chuckling a little at his sister's enthusiasm, Charlie grabbed her arm and steadied it so that he could look at the picture. The boy in the picture looked very young, no doubt around the same age as Ginny and Ron. Just as Charlie looked at him, Harry waved at him, which caused his hair to move enough to show a scar, shaped like a lightning bolt. Charlie had to peer with his eyes to see it clearly, but sure enough, it was definetely the same scar that was shown on the baby that the story book pictured. It really was Harry Potter!

"Wait, Harry plays quidditch? I thought he was in the same year as Ron?" Charlie felt like he must have missed something again. First years were never allowed to play on the first teams!

"He is. Harry got handpicked by Professor McGonagall after she had seen him do his first ever flying lesson. Ron says he is the youngest quidditch player in the last century and possibly one of the world's greatest seeker prodigies right now. The twins tones that down a little, but they are very keen to make sure that Harry is better than you, Charlie." Ginny said with a grin.

Charlie felt like someone had slapped him in the face. The grin he had on his face while he was watching his eventual successor to the position of Gryffindor seeker turned into a scowl, which triggered a giggle from Ginny, who reclaimed the locket and hung it around her neck with a content look. For several moments, Charlie just sat there staring into thin air. Then he turned to his parents.

"Mum? Is Harry coming to the Burrow over summer?" he asked with a neutral voice.

His father gave him a knowing smile, obviously amused by his son's reaction to the news Ginny had given him.

"We plan to try and get him to come over a little. Why?" his mother said with a confused look on her face, as clueless when it came to quidditch as ever. Ginny's giggles were joined by the snickering of her little part-kneazle Kurt as the two followed Charlie's reaction with happy amusement.

"Well, I hope it won't be too much trouble if I come visit a little during that period? I think I got a score to settle with Harry." he growled.

His mother seemed surprised at his request. Ginny couldn't hold in her laughter and at least she burst into a fit of laughter. Kurt the kneazle mirrored her actions and rolled over at his back while giving off laughing noises.

"Of course there is no trouble, but why are you suddenly so eager to come home?" her mother asked with a suspicious look.

"Oh, nothing." Charlie said as he turned to scowl at his sister, who was still trying to stiffle her giggles at his reaction. The girl in question just grinned at him.

Christmas for the Weasleys continued in the same manner, with Charlie getting to know more about to what extent his sister knew Harry Potter. Ginny was completely shining with happiness as Charlie showed them around the reservation and her eyes sparkled with excitement at getting to see real dragons. And just as Harry had expected, at the end of the day, Ginny sat down by the table to write him a long letter about all that she had gotten to see.

* * *

**A/N: **_Phew! There we go! I hope the beginning was understandable. I think it was pretty well written, but if you think otherwise then don't be shy to tell me so! I kind of got off track a little somewhere around the middle of the chapter so if that particular part holds a little lower standard, then I'm sorry._

_Now, I have gotten a review who told me that my English wasn't british enough... Well, that may be because I'm not british but anyhow, if there is any british dude out there who would like to help me get my english "britishtized", then please PM me. _

_Aside from that, I am looking for someone who would be willing to re-read all chapters up until now and write down all grammar and spelling errors I've made so I got a list of what I have to fix when I finally get my christmas break. If you are interested to help me with this, then please tell me so in a review or PM._

_Now, I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I've got 2 reviews I feel that I've got to answer here so people who are bothered by the same things can be put at ease:_

**_Vukk:_**_ Yes, Harry still haven't gotten that same shoe back from when he threw it in the Trophy room during their escape from Filch. Rest assured though, the poor shoe is not forgotten._

**_Sisno2200:_**_ It's not really that he feels sorry for the troll, it is more the experience and realization that he killed another living being. Less violent people, like Harry, tend to have a hard time killing other living beings, even if it is just an animal. A troll might not be something to feel sorry for, but the way Harry did it, crushing its skulle and forcefully breaking the bones in its arms and upper body, would in my mind probably be pretty traumatizing for an 11-year old boy. He was became mentally unstable by the conflicting emotions that his first kill stirred in him and his mind shut down automatically to protect him from the experience. Its like, some people can't remember a specific experience they got because of the trauma their mind went through at the time was too great for it to handle, so it kind of seals away the memory._

_And here we have it! Sorry I don't answer any more reviews in the AN but those who don't recieve and answer here recieve it through PM instead. Now thanks to all who read this! And I am already working with Chapter 12, though I still have a lot of school work to do so it might take some time. But until then, take care!_


	12. Wormtail Uncovered

**Bla Bla Bla (aka Author's Note): **_Hello again! Once more, this took longer than I anticipated, but it can't be helped. I can't control when I sick so I'll just say sorry and we will move on. This chapter will contain something a lot of you have been asking for ever since Severus gave Harry the Marauders' map (spoiler alert) so I hope I didn't disappoint you! _

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter. Wish I did, but life isn't fair so I don't. All the characters belong to J.K Rowling.

* * *

**Chapter Twelwe: **Wormtail Uncovered!

When Harry and Ron came down to the Great Hall, they quickly noticed that they were among the few who stayed at Hogwarts over Christmas. The Slytherin table was almost completely empty, save for a few first years, including Blaise Zabini. Ravenclaw table was a little more stocked but still, there were only like 8 students over there and none of them were in Harry's year. Looking over towards the Hufflepuff table, Harry was glad to spot Susan Bones and Hannah Abbot sitting by themselves. He had known Cedric would be going home over the christmas to spend time with his family, and because he felt he could not completely relax while still in the school. Harry didn't need to look at the Gryffindor table to know that he and the Weasley brothers were the only ones there. All of them were wearing their Weasley Jumpers, though Harry felt a little weird wearing one as he wasn't really a Weasley.

Ron started towards the Gryffindor table, but stopped as he noticed that Harry was moving towards the Hufflepuff table and their friends from that house. Shrugging, he decided to follow him that way instead.

Both girls spotted Harry early on and waved enthusiastically to him as he walked up to them.

"Happy Christmas Harry!" they chanted happily as Harry sat down beside them.

"Happy Christmas Susan, Hannah!" Harry replied happily. Behind him, Ron mumbled something similar.

Both girls smiled brightly at their guests and Hannah was quick to offer them a portion of cereal. Harry nodded his accpetance while Ron ignored Hannah (or perhaps didn't notice her?) and reached for a plate of bacon. Hannah wrinkled her nose in annoyance at Ron's behaviour, but didn't say anything.

"How did you like our presents?" Susan asked with a hopeful smile.

Behind Susan, Hannah suddenly tensed and gave them a nervous smile, as if she was afraid Harry wouldn't like the ink horn. Harry gave her a reassuring smile.

"I loved them both. I didn't think of getting anything for you though..." he said a little guiltily.

However, both Hufflepuff girls shook their heads.

"You didn't need to get us anything so don't feel bad. Besides, I have owed you for saving my locket for almost the entire school year." Susan said with a bright smile while she brushed away Harry's apology.

Harry still felt guilty, but at least Susan didn't appear to be upset. He was just about to return to his cereal when he realized something and turned to Hannah. The blonde girl was starled by his sudden interest in her and her cheeks reddened a little.

"You didn't owe me anything. What's your excuse?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hannah laughed nervously and after swallowing, she met his gaze with her dark blue eyes.

"Do you always need a reason to be nice?" she asked innocently.

It took Harry a moment to realize what she had done and he burst out laughing. Ron, who had been engrossed in his bacon and eggs, looked up and frowned, not getting what was so funny. Susan smirked at her friend while Hannah blushed slightly. When he had regained his breath, Harry explained to Ron that he had said the exact same thing that day when he gave Susan back her locket after saving it from Malfoy.

The four friends ate their breakfast under a casual conversation about what christmas gifts they had gotten and what they thought about staying at Hogwarts over christmas. Ron seemed a little put out when they were talking about presents, becuase like Harry, Susan were from an old wealthy wizarding family and Hannah's parents both had a healthy income and enough to spoil their only daughter badly. Harry, sensing his friend's discomfort with the conversation, decided to steer it away from the deep waters.

"So, why are you two staying over christmas? I thought you said your parents wanted you to come home so you could tell them all about your first half year here?" Harry asked Hannah.

The blonde girl's face flushed slightly when she answered his question. Harry of course, didn't notice the girl's blush, or Susan giving her friend a grin from behind his back.

"Uhm, well Susan told me she wouldn't be going home because her aunt is so busy at work, even over christmas, so she thought it would be better to stay here. So I thought I should stay here too, to keep her company."

"Fair enough." Harry said and returned to his cereal.

Looking around, a few more students had arrived in the Great hall. Percy had joined the Weasley twins at the Gryffindor table and though he didn't seem to enjoy their company overly much, he at least made a point to sit with his family during christmas. A few older students had sat down at the Ravenclaw table, though still no first year. Susan and Hannah were still the only Hufflepuffs and from what he had gathered, there wouldn't be coming any more students to the black and yellow table. At the Slytherin table, Blaise had been joined by two blonde girls, whom Harry didn't know the names of.

"So Susan, what does your aunt do that takes up so much time?" Harry asked to keep the conversation going.

Susan, who had just finished her breakfast, turned to him and stretched her arms in the air to get rid of some remaining stiffness from her sleep.

"Aunt Amelia is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. It is one of the most important and influental positions one can hold in the wizarding government. Its just natural that it takes up a lot of time." she answered.

With that, she and Hannah stood up to head back to their common room. Ron didn't seem to mind them leaving, but then again he hadn't really participated much in their conversation either. Before they could leave though, Harry talked them into meeting outside in an hour to have a snowball fight, which both girls accepted with happy nodds.

Harry finished his own breakfast not long after and sat, waiting for Ron to finish. While he sat there, he looked over towards the Slytherin table with a thoughtful look. Over the last weeks, the conflict within Slytherin had become all the more obvious. Malfoy and his gang was still an overwhelming majority, but there was a small group of first years that kept to themselves. Blaise seemed to be the leading figure in that group and he and Malfoy had gotten into disputes in the corridor and in classes more than once since that time during their flying lesson. Most people in the smaller group simply appeared to be neutral, but Blaise was never late to challenge Malfoy if he disagreed with what his housemate.

Harry still didn't know exactly what caused the conflict, but from what he knew, Blaise did not agree completely with Malfoy's view that purebloods were equal to gods in wizarding society. On a deep level, Harry had to admit that he respected Blaise for standing up to the majority of the Slytherin house the way he did, but at the same time he was a little unsure what view Blaise himself really held. He was still a Slytherin after all.

Perhaps he could try and find out a little more over the christmas break, now that Malfoy wasn't here? Rising from his chair slowly, he mumbled to Ron that he would be right back and sneaked over to the green and silver table. Blaise was just leaning forward to say something to one of the girls that had arrived late.

"...can't believe she would actually send me a book about pureblood supremacy for christmas! I mean, it's not like she have never been involved with people who weren't pureblooded!" Blaise finished in a slightly upset voice.

One of the girls, the one to the left, leaned back with a sigh, indicating that she had been talking about this with him at more than one occasion.

"That may be, but you can't really expect anything else when you have spoken out against purebloods as clearly as you have since you got here Blaise. I'm not saying what you are doing is wrong, I feel the same way as you but you know your mother does not."

Blaise gritted his teeth in frustration. Harry stopped a little distance away. Something told him this was not a conversation he should interrupt.

"I guess you are right, Daph. I just feel like maybe she could be a little more supportive of her own son!" Blaise said and leant forward to bury his head in his hands. He sighed with irritation.

Harry scowled at what he was hearing. He didn't know Blaise very well, but the boy had certainly made a positive impression on him. In a way, Blaise was even more impressive than most people he knew, going against what appeared to be the stream of his house. Most Slytherins gave the impression of being like Malfoy and for Blaise to openly defy that, it was a wonder he hadn't been hexed in his sleep yet.

"Don't take it so hard Blaise. In the end, you're doing what you feel is right." the other girl said.

"Yeah I know." Blaise groaned, obviously still angry at his mother.

Deciding this was as good a time as any to break into the conversation, Harry moved over to where the three Slytherins were sitting and tapped Blaise on the shoulder. He spun around to look over his shoulder and scowled when he saw who it was. The girls seemed surprised to find Harry there, though they didn't glare at him like Pansy Parkinson or Milicent Bulstrode, the two girls from Malfoy's circle, usually did. Harry took that as a good sign.

"What do you want, Potter?" Blaise growled as he sent Harry a calculating look.

Harry tried to put on his best smile to show that he didn't mean any harm. As if to underline his message, he held up his hands in a protective gesture in front of him.

"Relax, I'm not here to cause trouble." he said.

The girls on the opposite row appeared to relax a little at this statement. However, Blaise looked far from convinced as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave Harry a withering glare.

"Quit stalling, why are you here?" he growled.

Harry raised his eyebrows at Blaise's hostile attitude, but decided to let it slip for now. After decades of archrivalry between their houses, he couldn't really blame him for being on his guard. He would probably have reacted the same way if it had been Malfoy who had come over to the Gryffindor table without warning. Well, he did actually react that way whenever Malfoy came over to the Gryffindor table to cause trouble.

"I was wondering if you and your friends would be interested in going out onto the grounds for a snowball fight? So far, it's me, Ron and Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott from Hufflepuff, but we can mix up the teams to even it out." he asked hopefully.

Now it was Blaise's turn to raise his eyebrow. It wouldn't take a genius to see that he was sceptical to Harry's claim.

"You seriously want me to believe you don't have an ulterior motive? Why would a Gryffindor want to spend time with a Slytherin?"

Harry sighed. That damn rivalry was so damn stupid!

"I really don't have anything against Slytherins. The only one I really dislike is Malfoy, and possibly Marcus Flint for his foul play with the quidditch team." he tried to reason with Blaise.

The boy in question still looked sceptical. His eyes seemed to scan Harry for any sign of dishonesty. He opened his mouth to answer, but was beaten to it by one of the girls who was sitting on the other side of the table.

"Even if you don't have an ulterior motive, why would you want us to come?"

"Why not? It's not like any of you are part of Malfoy's gang and the more the merrier, right?" he said.

For a moment, Harry thought that the answer sounded a little bleek. It didn't really answer her question, but he couldn't come up with anything better at such short notice. After a moment of studying him, the girl nodded.

"Fair enough." she said, to the surprise of all those present, even Harry.

Blaise spun around to look at the girl in shock.

"You can't seriously be thinking of going, Trace?" he spluttered.

The girl sighed and stood up, stretching to ease some of her muscles.

"Why not? If they do anything funny, we just go to Professor Sinistra and tell her. It's not like we have anything else to do today, is it?" she said as she got out from her seat and waited for the other girl to rise.

Blaise eyed them both for a moment as the other girl dried her mouth with a handkerchief and rose from her seat.

"Very well, when are you going outside?" he said finally.

Harry felt relief rush over him. He hadn't really known what to expect from this meeting, but it sure had turned out well. Or as well as it could. He could see Blaise was still reluctant, but at least he was giving it a shot.

"We're going to meet in the great hall in an hour."

Blaise just nodded in confirmation that he had heard. The girls however, offered Harry a brief smile before the three Slytherins left the great hall. His quest accomplished, Harry made his way back towards the Gryffindor table, where Ron was waiting with a scowl on his face.

"What the hell were you doing over at the Slytherin table?" he asked with a restrained voice, showing that he had been aware of Harry's actions but decided not to intervene, for which Harry was grateful.

"I just invited Blaise and his friends to join us for the snowball fight." he said simply as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

This did nothing to calm Ron down and he looked utterly betrayed. As Harry began walking towards the exit of the great hall, Ron hurried up behind him.

"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed. "They're Slytherins! They'll just ruin everything!"

Harry and Ron kept on bickering about the Slytherins all the way to the Gryffindor tower. Harry began to grow tired of Ron's stubborn mindset that all Slytherins were bad. While Blaise hadn't exactly been friendly towards him when he had asked, he hadn't been all that unfriendly either. He had just been alert to the possibility that Harry had been looking to cause trouble, which he really couldn't be blamed for after decades of archrivalry between the Gryffindors and Slytherins.

"Listen Ron, if you think this will turn out to be a catastrophe, you don't have to come!" Harry growled as he reached inside his trunk to try and get ahold of the Marauders' map. He wanted to see if there was any other first years left at Hogwarts. Perhaps they could get someone else to join them.

Ron looked shocked that Harry would even suggest something like that.

"Of course I'm coming! Slytherins or not!" he said.

Harry just shook his head as he finally pulled out the parchment he was seeking.

"Then quit complaining. **_I solemnly swear that I'm up to no_ _good_.**" Harry answered and tapped the map with his wand.

While the map drew itself out, Harry heard Ron mumble something as he went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Harry didn't bother listening as he was pretty sure it was not something he wanted to hear. Instead, he watched as the map drew out the lines for their dormroom. And then he felt his heart stop in his chest. He wasn't alone in the room. Over by Ron's bed, a name was written out. _Peter Pettigrew. _

He took a few shaky breath and looked over towards Ron's bed, expecting to find someone sitting on it. But the bed was empty. He frowned and rose from the floor and walked over to where the name was written on the map. But the bed really was empty, save for Ron's rat Scabbers, who was snoozing on the bedsheats. He looked back down on the map. Could it be that the map was wrong? No, it hadn't been wrong anytime before so why would it be now? Then could it be Scabbers it was reacting to? No, the map didn't react to Hedwig or other pets so why would it do so to Scabbers? Unless...

"Ron, I just remembered I got something I need to do before we meet down in the Great Hall. See you down there!" Harry said as he turned around and ran down the stairs to the common room. He heard Ron give a mufled answer to the best of his abilities with a toothbrush still in his mouth.

Harry exited the common room and ran down the stairs towards the Great hall. Hopefully, the one he was looking for was still there. For the first time since the start of the school year, the path to the Great hall felt too long. He usually enjoyed taking his time walking to the great hall. There was always something new to find but now, he just wanted to get down there.

As soon as he was back in the Great hall, he spotted the one he was looking for. Severus Snape was sitting at his usual place by the staff table, just finishing his breakfast. Stopping to think twice, Harry realized that perhaps it would be better if he kept this between Sev and himself. He didn't know how many of the other teachers knew about the Marauders' Map, not to mention that even if they did he was pretty sure they would not approve of Severus giving it to Harry. Seeing as Severus had just stood up to leave, he figured he might as well wait outside the hall as to not awake suspiscion regarding the map.

It felt like hours went by while he waited, while in reality it only took Severus about 20 seconds to get from the staff table to the entry hall.

"Hey Uncle Sev!" Harry said with a slightly tense voice. He was a little bit nervous as he didn't really know what was up with the map.

Severus seemed surprised to find Harry waiting for him, but happy nonetheless.

"Hey there Harry. Something on your mind?" he asked.

Harry nodded and pulled out the map to show him what was up.

"I think the map might have broken, because it showed a name in our dorm, but I am sure that me and Ron was the only ones there." he searched the map until he found his dorm again. The name was still there. "Look!" he said and pointed at the name in question.

Severus took the map and looked at the name in question. As soon as he laid his eyes on the name, they shot up behind his bangs and he stared at the name as if he had seen a ghost.

"That's impossible..." he said as he took a deep breath to calm himself. There was no way Pettigrew could be alive! Black had killed him!

Harry looked up at Severus and frowned when he saw the spooked out face that his favorite uncle was showing.

"Uncle Sev? Is something the matter? The map probably is just broken." he said in an apologetic way.

However, Severus shook his head, not taking his eyes of the name on the map.

"The map never lies. If it says that Peter is alive, then it must mean he is, though I can't for my life understand how that is possible." he said, though more to himself than to Harry.

Something about the way he said it put Harry at unease. It sounded almost like he knew this Peter Pettigrew from somewhere. More importantly, it sounded as if Pettigrew was supposed to be dead!

"Uncle Sev, what's going on? Do you know this man?" he asked, not sure if he ought to call it a man, since he hadn't seen any man where the man was supposed to be.

Severus however, didn't seem to hear him at all. He was still staring at the dot on the map that held Peter Pettigrew's name. His mind was racing to try and find a possible explanation to this. Black had killed Pettigrew, that much was common knowledge. And Severus had known that Black was the secret keeper of the Potters so only he could have betrayed them. The keyword there being _could_... Why _would _Black betray the Potters? He and Potter had been like brothers since the day they set foot at Hogwarts. On top of that, Black had been dishonored by his own family for not sharing their views on pureblood supremacy and for having been against Voldemort. Why would someone like that turn his back on the Potters? Well, only one way to find out. If Pettigrew was alive, then perhaps he could give the answers to this.

"Harry, I think you should leave this to me. I'll borrow the map for a little while, try not to think anymore about this." Severus said as he folded the map and put it inside his robes.

Harry frowned at Severus' actions. That was certainly weird. He had never seen Severus act this shocked before. Well, if you excluded the troll incident, but that one was understandable. But why would he react the same way just because the map showed a name that shouldn't be there? These questions flew around in Harry head as he made his way back to Gryffindor tower to get his outdoor wear.

**-:-:-:-**

20 minutes later, Harry and Ron entered the Great Hall. They looked around and found Susan and Hannah sitting by the Hufflepuff table. However, to their big surprise, they had been joined by the two blonde girls from the Slytherin table. A little furhter down the row, Blaise sat, obviously displeased to see his friends interracting so carefree with other houses. It couldn't be more obvious he still believed this to be some nasty scheme of Harry's.

Ignoring the look that Ron shot in Blaise's direction, Harry grabbed the redhead by the arm and dragged him over to the Hufflepuff table.

"Hey girls!" he said with a cheery smile.

"Hi Harry." Susan and Hannah greeted.

Harry noticed that the other girls hadn't greeted them but then again, they didn't really know each other very well yet, he reasoned. Glancing at Blaise, the other boy met his eyes and after a moment, he stood up and made his way over towards the group. While they waited, Harry turned back towards the girls, whom he noticed had already returned to their conversation.

"I see you girls seem to get along." he pointed out with a smile.

All four girls turned towards him.

"Yeah well, these two aren't too bad." one of the Slytherin girls, Trace, said.

Harry just nodded as Blaise joined them, still keeping a guarded eye at Harry and Ron. Ron returned the look with a glare, but yelped when Harry elbowed him in his ribcage and instead turned to glare at Harry.

"Now, I just now realized that I don't really know your names? Why don't we all introduce ourselves and tell the others something about ourselves so we can get a good impression of each other?" Harry suggested.

When the others gave him an accepting look, but no one opened their mouths to begin, Harry decided that perhaps he should be the first one, since it was him who suggested it.

"Alright, I'll go first then. My name is Harry Potter. I like to study magic and play quidditch and I dislike needless conflict. Oh, and I am fascinated by the inner workings of wands." he said. The last statement caused many of the table's occupants to raise their eyebrows, but none commented on it, though Ron gave him a look letting his best mate know that he thought he was mental.

After a brief silence where the others appeared to be taking in what Harry had told about himself, Ron decided to take up the lead, to everyone's surprise.

"Ah well. I'm Ron Weasley. I like to play Wizarding chess and I am a fan of the Chudley Canons quidditch team. I dislike Malfoy and homework." This caused all the table's occupants to snicker. Harry was thankful he had refraine from saying that he disliked Slytherins, which he would not have put past Ron to say.

For some reason, Blaise gave Ron an approving look when he was done with his introduction. Harry looked questioning at Blaise but when the boy didn't give any other indication, he decided that perhaps what had been so approving in Blaise's eyes would come out when it was his turn to introduce himself. Next, it was Susan's turn.

"My name is Susan Bones, of the Bones family. I like to spend time with my friends and study." she gave Ron a reprimanding look when she said this, which made the boy twist nervously in his seat." And I dislike people who are disrespectful towards others."

Though she didn't say it, Harry could guess that she was trying to imply that she disliked Malfoy. Ever since Malfoy had taken her locket that first week, she had always gotten a dark look on her face whenever his name had been mentioned. Harry was almost glad that Malfoy had taken to irritate him and the Gryffindors instead of going for Susan again, because he was pretty sure Susan would not be as patient with the slimy Slytherin as he had been these past months.

Hannah looked like she wanted to go next, but before she could open her mouth, one of the Slytherin girls decided to take lead and introduce herself.

"I'm Tracey Davis. I like to spend time with my family and dislike my roommates, with the exception of Daphne here." she pointed to the other Slytherin girl, who blushed when all the attention turned to her for a few moments. "And I also think pureblood supremacy is utterly ridiculus." Tracey finished.

Harry smiled. Just as he had thought, there were others than Blaise in Slytherin who didn't agree with the rest of their house, just that they weren't as outspoken against it as the boy sitting opposite to him. Seeing that Hannah was a little disappointed that she had been beaten to her introduction, Harry gave her an encouraging nodd, which caused the girl's cheeks to redden in embarrassment, but she nonetheless spoke up.

"My name is Hannah Abbott. Uhm... I like people who stand up for themselves and hope that one day I will be able to do that too... and I dislike bullies." she said, her blush deepening at the confession.

After having known her for half a year, Harry knew all too well that Hannah could be very shy and rarely spoke with strangers. So far, all he had seen her interract with except for the teachers were her peers from Hufflepuff and Harry and his friends. He smiled at her and she gave him a thankful look, showing that she appreciated his support. Next up was the last Slytherin girl.

"My name is Daphne Greengrass. I like to spend time with my family, especially my sister and I dislike bullies and people who think they are better than others." she said.

Harry noticed that so far, both Slytherins had been very anxious to point out that they did not agree with the mindset of the average Slytherin. Both Tracey and Daphne had been sure to underline that they disliked pureblood supremacy in one way or another. And something told him that Blaise would be no different.

"The name's Blaise Zabini. I dislike a lot of things, including pureblood supremacy and stubborness and like very few things. I do like to play quidditch though, but I would never want to be on the house team as long as Flint is captain." he said with a neutral look. However, his stern face twisted slightly into a smile when he looked towards Ron, which confused the redhead. At least until Blaise added: "And I am a supporter of the Chudley Canons."

For a moment, no one said anything. Harry, Susan, Hannah and Ron stared at Blaise in disbelief. Judging from the smug smiles that Daphne and Tracey was giving off, Harry would guess that they had known since earlier that Blaise was a supporter of the Canons. In his mind, Harry came to the conclussion that Blaise was one odd sheep, standing out from the crowd in any possible way.

"You're joking, right?" Ron said in disbelief. He even forgot to sound hostile towards the Slytherin.

Blaise snorted.

"I'm not joking at all. Why do you think I suddenly decided you aren't so bad after all?" he said.

Ron looked like he didn't know if he should be offended or take it as a compliment. Harry had to put his hand over his mouth to keep himself from laughing at the irony of the situation. The girls all looked a little put out, but decided it wasn't worth trying to understand. There were some mysteries that couldn't be solved and in their minds, one of those things were the connection between boys and quidditch.

"Well, now that we know each other a little bit better, why don't we head on outside?" Harry suggested as he stood up from the table and tigthened scarf around his neck, quickly followed by the others.

**-:-:-:-**

While Harry and his new friends were heading on outside, Severus had decided on a course of action. There was only one way to find out if Peter Pettigrew really was alive and that was to investigate Harry's dorm, where the dot was showing on the map. However, if it proved to be true and Pettigrew was alive, then he would need to have someone else there to help him capture him. If Pettigrew for some reason had hidden himself for this long, then that would mean he had done something he did not want to face consequences for. With that thought in mind, he made his way towards the Tranfiguration teacher's office. After knocking and recieving a muffled "enter" as a reply, he entered the office. Professor McGonagall was sitting by her desk with a stack of papers in front of her.

"Severus. Well this is a surprise visit." she said as she looked up and towards the door.

Severus nodded as an answer and when Minerva saw the serious look on his face, she stood up.

"Minerva, there is something I need help with. Are you available?"

The older witch cast a sideway glance at her pile of work and then looked back at Severus with a searching look, as if trying to decide what it was he wanted help with.

"Depends on what you need help with?" she answered as she studied her fellow Professor.

After contemplating his options, Severus reached inside of his robe and pulled out the Marauders' map. If he was to get McGonagall's cooperation for this, he would need to come clean about the reason behind it. One simply couldn't get something like that past Minerva McGonagall.

"This is an object that Harry's father created, along with his best friends. It is called the Marauders' map. If you come over here, I'm sure you can figure out what it's function is."

Frowning in surprise, Minerva made her way over to where Severus stood and held out her hand to take the map from him. Severus didn't object and simply handed it over. While Minerva studied the map, she couldn't help but admire the workings of the map. Just as Severus had said, it didn't take her long to figure out what the map was doing. And she felt thrilled by what she saw. It truly was a well-made piece of magic!

"I see you have understood it's inner workings." Severus noticed.

Minerva nodded as she searched the map and found her own office. Sure enough, 2 dots were standing close together by the doorway, each named "Minerva McGonagall" and "Severus Snape" respectively. She decided to see how fast the map would react and took a step away from the door and to her surprise, the dot on the map that was marked with her own name did the same in the exact same moment. She looked up from the map in astonishment.

"This map is truly something, but why are you showing it to me? Surely, you didn't come here just to show it to me." she said. While she didn't complain at having been shown such a rare piece of magic, possibly the only one of its kind, she knew Severus Snape well enough to know he had another motive for coming here.

And just as she thought, Severus took a step forward and grabbed the map from her, then held it up so they could both see, before he pointed his right index finger on the Gryffindor tower.

"This is the problem I need your help with."

At first, Minerva didn't understand what he was getting at and was just about to ask when she noticed the dot that was currently alone in the first year boys' dormitory. She leaned forward to see who it was and the name that she read got her to gasp in shock. _Peter Pettigrew._ She looked up at her colleague, who was giving her a serious look.

"Before you suggest that the map might be broken, I want to point out that if it is broken, then nothing will be lost from at least investigating this matter. IF the map really is correct, then we might have a problem up our sleeves."

Taking in what he had said, Minerva frowned.

"Why do you say that?" she asked.

"Think about it Minerva. If Peter Pettigrew really is alive, then why would he go into hiding? To the wizarding world, he is regarded as a hero from the last war, after tracking down Black. You know as well as I do that Black was the Potters' secret keeper and that he betrayed them to Voldemort. However, if that really was the case, then why would Pettigrew hide once Black was imprisoned."

Minerva flinched slightly when Severus said the Dark Lord's name, but she quickly shook it off. She had learnt a long time ago that it was no use arguing with him about that. In that area, he was just as stubborn as Albus.

"Are you suggesting that Pettigrew was the one who betrayed the Potters to he-who-must-not-be-named?" she asked in shock, as the implications of what Severus had said settled in her mind.

"I am saying that it is a possibility, considering he have been hiding for 11 years. However, there is only one way to find out and that is to uncover him and get him to tell us the truth. If he really is in the Gryffindor tower right now, then we should go there to find out."

For a moment, Minerva didn't know what to do. The implications of the situations were swirling aorund in her head. Pettigrew had been killed by one of his thought to be best friends, Sirius Black. The largest part of Pettigrew one had found was a finger. However... why would a finger be the only part of him they found? If Black really had blown him to pieces, then shouldn't there have been other parts... scattered around the scene. Minerva shuddered at the thought, but now that she thought about it, there really was something fishy about it. Witnesses claimed that Black only had cast one single curse, but even a blasting curse or an explosion curse would not have pulverized its victim so badly only a finger could be found. However, if Pettigrew had been the traitor they had in their midst, then that would mean the roles had been reversed to what was popular belief and that in turn would mean...

"Severus... if Pettigrew was the one who betrayed Harry's parents, then the ministry sent an innocent man to Azkaban!" she gasped in shock.

Severus grunted in agreement. He might have hated Black, but even he didn't deserve to spend a decade in Azkaban for something he hadn't done. If Black really was the one who betrayed Lily, then he could rotten away in that chunk of concrete for all Severus cared but if Black was innocent, then that was not something he would wish even for one of his worst enemies.

"But how could that be? Shouldn't something like this have come up during the ministry's trial?" she asked, still in disbelief. But she had to admit, that things were pointing in that direction.

Severus gave a dry laugh as he walked back towards the door and opened it. Minerva got what he was saying and followed without questioning. They had better get this over with before they jumped to any conclussions.

"You're seriously telling me you weren't informed? Black never recieved a trial! Crouch sent him straight to Azkaban and never bothered to investigate his case!" Severus said as the two of them made their way towards the Gryffindor tower.

Hearing this, Minerva wrinkled her nose in irritation. Crouch, of course. While she had always respected Bartemius Crouch for his sense of justice, she had always thought him to be a little quick to judge and sometimes extreme in his methods. She couldn't deny that his methods during the war had been most effective and she could even admit that had he not acted like he had in those dire times, it was possible that they would have lost the war. But had he really sent a man to Azkaban without a trial? Where was the justice in that? Then again, she guessed it wasn't something she would put past him. He had, after all, sent his own son to Azkaban...

"Murtlap." Severus said as they reached the portait of the fat lady.

The portait just nodded towards him and swung open to allow him passage. Minerva shook herself out of her thoughts and steeled herself for what was to come. These next minutes could change the life of more than one man. If Pettigrew really was here, then these next moments would go down in history. Silently, she followed behind Severus as he climbed the stairs to the first year boys' dorm. The door creaked as he opened it. They entered without making any noise, not wanting to draw attention to themselves.

"It's empty." Minerva said as she scanned the dorm.

Severus let his eyes scan the room without answering. After checking the map to make sure that Pettigrew was still in the room, he began walking towards Harry's bed. He allowed himself a smile when he saw that Harry's bed and things were all tidy and clean and well organized, before he returned to the task at hand. According to the map, Pettigrew should be sitting/standing in the bed that was left to Harry's. Judging by the messy covers and the things scattered around it, he would say that was Ron Weasley's bed. Taking a step closer, he waved Minerva over.

"In order to solve a mystery, you need to see what's hidden underneath the hidden."

Hearing the quote, Minerva couldn't help but snort.

"You're starting to sound like Albus." she joked as she came up to stand beside him.

Severus smiled, while never taking his eyes off the bed. There had to be something here that could tip him off as to what to do next.

"Thanks. That's probably because it was him who told me that in the first place." he answered as his eyes narrowed down on the blanket that had been tossed onto the bed in a messy way. From underneath the blanket, a tail was sticking out. A rat's tail.

"Do you think he could be invisible? Or does the map show people if they are hidden underneath an invisibility cloak?" Minerva asked as she tried to see what Severus was staring on. While she was very sharp, both in mind and spirit, she failed to see what had Severus pull out his wand.

"The map never lies. It will still show you as yourself, even if you're invisible or hidden in some way. Or in this case, transformed." he said with a smirk as he pointed his wand at the bed blankets and called out: "_**Animagus**_** Revelio!**"

A stream of light blue light shot out from the tip of his wand and hit the tail of the rat that was sleeping underneath the blanket. The rat woke up with a squek, that turned into a surprised shout of "ouch!" as the small bulge in the blanket suddenly increased in size. Beside him, Minerva gasped as she realized what had just happened. As his suspiscions were confirmed, Severus face twisted into an angry scowl as he took one step forward and pulled off the blanket to reveal a mangy-looking man in his early thirties. He had a bald spot on the top of his head, surrounded by an uneven amount of gray hair. His build was a lot more shallow than the last time Severus had seen him and his front teeth seemed to have grown longer, possibly as a result of spending over a decade as a rat. But there was no doubt who this man was, neither to Severus, nor to Minerva.

"Peter." Severus growled as the man spun around in the bed to look at them with a fearful expression.

"S-Severus..." he stammered, obviously not knowing what to do.

Severus had to bite his jaws hard together to control his emotions. Even with his skills in legilimency and control of his own emotions, he had to muster up all his shields to not throw himself at Pettigrew. He was seething with rage at the man in front of him. To be honest, he hadn't know what to expect when he went up here to find Pettigrew. This was the man who had sent Voldemort after Lily! This man... no, this _thing_ was responsible for making Harry and orphan! Growling at his former classmate, Severus took a step forward and grabbed Pettigrew by the collar.

"You're coming with us. We're going to pay the headmaster a visit." Severus hissed from behind clenched teeth.

Pettigrew yelped as he was roughly pulled out of the bed and dragged across the floor by his collar. Seeing Severus about to leave the room, Minerva snapped herself out of her shock and quickly followed after them. She caught up with the two men down in the common room, just as Severus was pulling Peter along through the portait hole. The scabby man glanced around with fearful eyes, trying to come up with a means of escape.

"Peter... why?" she whispered as she got up behind him.

Pettigrew turned his eyes towards her and gave her a pleading look.

"M-Minerva! I swear, I didn't mean to. Don't let him take me away!"

Minerva wrinkled her nose in disgust. In her mind, this meant only one thing. Pettigrew really was the traitor all along. His behavior since they had turned him back to his human form as much as proved that he had wanted to stay hidden from them. And why would he want to hide form those who were supposed to be his friends if he hadn't done something that would make them angry with him? Minerva felt like her head would explode with all the implications this brought. The ministry's injustice, the imprisonment of an innocent man, the betrayal of someone whom she had regarded as a comrade...

"Silence, you scumbag!" Severus growled as he pulled Pettigrew along. As he did, he tugged harder at the man's collar, causing his prisoner to yelp. "You should be thankful I have learnt the importance of controlling my temper, or you would have been dead the moment I saw that bloody tail of yours sticking out form underneath the blankets."

Coming to a stop in front of the Gargoyle statue that guarded the headmaster's office, Severus gave the password ("Banana Split!") and waited for the staircase to reach all the way up to Dumbledore's office. Even if he didn't want to hurt Pettigrew without reason, that didn't mean he couldn't at least give him a few scratches by dragging him up the staircase. He didn't deserve the luxury of sitting on the staircase while it rose to the door. Not wasting any time, Severus began dragging the poor man up the stairs as soon as they came to a stop. He could feel Minerva's eyes on his back and her snort of disapproval at such "barbaric ways" as she would have called it, but he didn't care. And since she didn't say anything to right him, he didn't bother trying. Once they were up the stairs, he knocked hard on the door.

"Come in." Dumbledore's voice sounded from the other side.

* * *

**A/N: **_So, there we go. The rat has been caught! So what do you think should happen now? Excited for the next chapter? I mean, it will only determine a lot of things for the entire story and how Harry will develop as a character! Not a big deal, no not at all._

_Now, time to answer some reviews._

**_Charlie's jealousy?_**_ A lot of you mentioned something about Charlie being jealous of Harry's quidditch skills. I am glad most of you seemed to enjoy his reaction, but what he is feeling isn't really jealousy. It's more like he feels his own reputation is being threatened and want to show who's best. Still, I am glad so many of you seemed to enjoy his reaction!_

**_Sisno2200:_**_ Seriously sis, you should check your PM inbox. Not sure if you read it so often, so I'll just give you an answer here. Yeah, I guess it seems a little bad by Harry to give Ginny a golden necklace and Ron a pack of Chocolate frogs, but also remember that Ron is almost as bad as his mother when it comes to accepting charity and he probably would have snapped at Harry if he got anything worth more than he could pay himself. On top of that, what do you think Ron would enjoy the most: a pack of chocolate or some jewelry? ;)_

_**xdninja05: **Having trouble seeing this is a FF and not canon? Haha, that's quite a compliment, thanks a lot. I am pretty happy with the way this story have gone so far, though I wouldn't claim to even be close to the level of J.K Rowling just yet. But anyway, that is probably the best compliment an HP fanfic author can get so tyvm! =)  
_

_Now, this is where I take my leave again. I got a new poll up where you can vote for what Animagus form you would like Harry to get IF i make him an animagus. If I do decide to make him into one, it won't happen until later in the story, but it might help y descision if I knew what you would want to turn him into. And as usual, if you think I have missed an option, then tell me and I'll add it. Take care, until the next time!_


	13. Pettigrew Escapes! Harry VS Wormtail!

**A/N: **_I'm back and I'm sooooo sorry this took so illegally long! Well, it's actually only been 10 days, which isn't too bad compared to some authors, but still it's the longest it's taken me to update this story. Now, there are a few reason for that. One is school. With christmas break approaching, all teachers have this funny idea that they need to test us and so, we got just about one exam per day this upcoming week that I have studied for. Next on the list is the publishing of my Pokemon story, that I wanted to get off to a kickstart and update in quick succession. Now don't be angry with me please, there are a lot of readers over there that like me too and they seem to be ok with my work being shared with you guys so I hope you feel the same. If any of you like Pokemon, then perhaps you should check it out?_

_Now, I am ready to face my punishment for taking time updating, as long as it doesn't involve 1) An angry Hermione with a wand. 2) More schoolwork. or 3) Spinach, I HATE Spinach!_

_Other than that, I must say I was pretty nervous when posting this chapter, since it's the first real fighting scene I have written for this story and on top of that, I feel like it is one that will have a HUGE impact on you readers, in many different ways. Anyway, here goes!_

**Disclaimer:** Don't own this stuff. I have put it on my wishlist for christmas so we'll see if Santa Clause really can give a guy whatever he wishes! :D

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen: **Pettigrew Escapes! Harry VS Wormtail!

* * *

**(Recap):**

_Coming to a stop in front of the Gargoyle statue that guarded the headmaster's office, Severus gave the password ("Banana Split!") and waited for the staircase to reach all the way up to Dumbledore's office. Even if he didn't want to hurt Pettigrew without reason, that didn't mean he couldn't at least give him a few scratches by dragging him up the staircase. He didn't deserve the luxury of sitting on the staircase while it rose to the door. Not wasting any time, Severus began dragging the poor man up the stairs as soon as they came to a stop. He could feel Minerva's eyes on his back and her snort of disapproval at such "barbaric ways" as she would have called it, but he didn't care. And since she didn't say anything to right him, he didn't bother trying. Once they were up the stairs, he knocked hard on the door._

_"Come in." Dumbledore's voice sounded from the other side._

* * *

Upon the invitation, Severus pushed the door open and dragged Pettigrew inside. Albus Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, reading a book. When Severus entered with a whimpering man dragged by the collar and a still white faced Minerva McGonagall, Dumbledore looked up and upon seeing the odd following that had entered his office, he stood up from his plush armchair.

"What's the meaning of this?" he asked with shock while his eyes travelled from Severus, to the man he was dragging with him, to the shocked Professor McGonagall.

Snorting at the question, Severus threw Pettigrew in front of his feet and pointed his wand at the man. For a moment, he just glared down on the man in disgust while Professor McGonagall came up to stand beside him.

"Tell me headmaster, do you recognise this man?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Frowning, Dumbledore bent forward to study the man, who hadn't even bothered getting up. Normally, he would not have tolerated such a behavior as Severus had displayed in his office, but if Severus, with all his mental progress and skill in occlumency, were this upset about something, then it really had to be something important. Looking down at the man, Dumbledore studied him from head to toe. He did look slightly familiar, but Dumbledore couldn't quite place him. That was, before the man looked up at him with pleading eyes.

"A-Albus, I swear I didn't do it on purpose." he whimpered.

Seeing the man's face in full view, Dumbledore's eyes widened in realization.

"Peter? Peter Pettigrew?" he said in shock.

The man on the floor gave an almost unnoticeable nod. Stunned, Dumbledore stared at the man in shock. This man was supposed to be dead! Seeing that the headmaster finally recognized the man on the floor, Severus stepped forward.

"This man has been hiding as a rat for 10 years, Albus. I found him in the Gryffindor tower." Severus said as he held out the map to Albus.

At the sight of the map, Albus just nodded knowingly. Severus had shown him the map as soon as it had come into his possession and he had explained his wish to give it to Harry. Dumbledore had been sceptical at first, since such an object could prove to be very useful for himself, but Severus had managed to persuade him that it belonged with Harry, since his father had been the one to create it.

What no one noticed was that when the map was shown to the room's occupants, Pettigrew's eyes took on a sinister look. So that was how they had managed to catch him, using his own creation! If he was to escape this alive, then he would need to get his hands on the map or they would just track him down again!

"Alright, this is all very confusing. Why don't we all sit down and you can explain to me what's happened this morning, Severus?" Dumbledore said as he waved his wand, summoning 3 comfortable armchairs.

**-:-:-:-**

Harry laughed as he ducked to avoid being hit by a snowball that had been sent in his direction by Blaise. When they had come outside, they had made up the rules and teams for this little game. It would be one team consisting of Harry, Daphne and Susan against a team of Blaise, Tracey, Ron and Hannah. Each team would be given 20 minutes to build a snowfortress that they would use as a home base. The other team was not allowed to enter that base, so both teams had resolved to use their fortress as a storage for snowballs. When the fortresses had been halfway done, the Weasley twins had come out to join them, so Fred had joined Blaise's team and George had joined Harry's team. Building snowfortresses was so much fun when they could use magic. When Harry looked over towards the other team's fortress, it looked like Blaise had done this before, seeing as theirs was much larger and, presumably, sturdier than Harry's. The playing field was evened slightly when the older Weasleys joined the game but Team Blaise still had a headstart.

When 20 minutes were up, two large snow fortresses stood tall over the ground. Harry's team had focused on getting maximal protection, as they were at a numerically disadvantage. Their base had higher walls than the other team's, but it was also smaller. Blaise had been much more artistic when he built his fortress, bsing its design on the Hogwarts castle. While not as big and majestic, it had several towers of compact snow that could be used to throw snowballs from, increasing their options for a counter attack.

As soon as the time for building was up, the field had broken into utter snow chaos. Both Weasley twins had initiated an offensive for their respective teams, charming snowballs to act like target-seeking missiles that rained down on the opposing team's fortress. All participants had gotten hit in multiple spots, including the Weasley twins who had charmed their ammunition in the first place. They had now been at it for one full hour and no one seemed to be willing to slow down just yet. Blaise even seemed like he was enjoying himself.

"Take this!" he shouted as he used a levitation charm to send a particularly large snowball (about the size of the bottom part of the typical snowman) towards Harry.

Not having enough time to get out of he way, Harry swiftly pulled out his wand and waved it towards the snowball.

"**Validus Corripio!**" he shoued as he magically grabbed the snowball out of the air and sent it flying back towards Blaise, who looked gobsmacked as his own masterpiece and trumphcard was sent back at him. Harry's use of a high NEWT-level curse might also have contributed to his surprise.

The snowball hit its target and Blaise fell down from the tower he had been standing in to land on the castle wall, beside Hannah. He quickly struggled to get back on his feet in order to return the fire, but he got beat to it by the blonde girl at his side, who had sent a snowball at Harry the second she saw that his attention had been fully focused on Blaise's snowball. Her attack hit Harry in the chest, causing him to stumble back.

"Nice shot!" Ron called to her as he himself sent a snowball towards his older brother George, who had been working on gathering enough snow to build a snowball even larger than Blaise's. Unfortunately for Ron, he failed to notice that Daphne and Susan had been working on the same scheme, just underneath their own castle walls, just out of sight. When they were done, Susan levitated the snowball over the wall and Daphne sent a curse at it, causing it to explode over the heads of the other team.

"Take cover!" Fred shouted as he threw himself out of the line of fire from the rain of smaller snowballs that came down on his team's base.

Harry used the confusion to jump down to George to help him finish his enormous snowball. Grinning widely, the two boys managed to roll it even further to gather more snow, until it was about as big as Harry's body, minus the head.

"I got this. Get your wand ready!" Harry said as he put out both his hands and began levitating the snowball wandlessly. George raised an eyebrow at first as this was the first time he had seen Harry's wandless levitation in action, but just shrugged as he pulled out his wand.

Harry took aim for one fo the towers on Team Blaise's fortress, hoping to bring it down. Those towers were a nuisance as it gave Blaise's team more options for attacking them and also because it was hard to hit them when they were up in the towers, so it served as both an offensive and defensive advantage for them. Knowing that Blaise still hadn't made it back up into the tower he had occupied before Harry hit him, he finally settled his aim on that one.

"Now!" Harry said as he used his magic to push the snowball towards the tower.

"**Depulso!**" George called as he pointed his wand towards the snowball in mid air. It picked up speed and went flying like it had been shot out of a canon.

The projectile hit its mark and caused the tower to crumble. Together, both the snowball and the tower exploded into a rain of snow, that rained down on Hannah and Blaise, who had been standing just underneath it. Hannah squeked in surprise and Blaise swore under his breath as they were both covered in tha falling snow. Harry laughed as Blaise stuck his head out of the pile of snow and shook it to get rid of the snow that was still on his head.

"That was a dirty trick, Harry!" he called over the field.

Harry just chuckled as he returned to his base.

"Really? I was sure that snowball was pretty clean. Not a single dirty spot on it." he answered.

Blaise growled and turned towards Ron, who had managed to escape a barrage of snowball sent his way by Susan. The two Chudley Canons fans nodded towards each other and jumped down onto the ground to fight snow with snow. It had been a long time since any of them had this much fun!

**-:-:-:-**

In his office, it wasn't unusual for Albus Dumbledore to allow himself to lean back and feel how old he really was. However, it had been a long time since he had felt this old. As his potions professor explained to him what had happened that morning, from Harry coming to show him the "weird" name on the Marauders' map that shouldn't be there, to his and Minerva's inspection of the Gryffindor Tower, where they found and captured Pettigrew, Albus felt himself getting older and older, as if his years were finally catching up to him. Through the entire conversation, he noticed that Pettigrew was constantly trying to find a way of escape from the room, to the point that Fawkes kept an eye on him without even blinking, in case he decided to do something funny. Minerva didn't say much. She just sat in her armchair and watched and listened as Severus gave his point of view on the events.

"... and then we came here, as soon as we had confirmed our suspicions and apprehended this..." Severus didn't finish and simply cast a disgusted look at Pettigrew.

Sighing as the implications of the situation came over him, Dumbledore hid his face in his hands. This was even worse than what he had believed had happened. If Pettigrew was here and had lived 10 years hidden as a rat, then he must have done something that he didn't want to risk facing consequences for.

"They switched, didn't they?" he asked, not even bothering to tell them what he was talking about. He knew that Severus would understand.

The Potions master looked down at his former classmate and for a split second, Pettigrew looked up at him with a pleading look in his eyes. Big mistake. Without caring about the fact that it was regarded as unethical, Severus pushed his way into Pettigrew's mind. They both seemingly froze in place as Severus rushed through the other man's memories in opposite order. First everything was black until suddenly there was a yelp and out of nowhere, he saw himself lift the blankets from the now human Pettigrew. Then the sceneray changed to resemble that of a kitchen. It took him a second to recognize it as the kitchen at The Burrow. Molly was standing by the sink, as usual and by the table sat 3 of her children: Percy, Ron and Ginny as Severus recognized them. They all looked to be a little younger than they were to current date, but not overly so. On the table was a cage that contained... well, at this point he should probably say Pettigrew but it made him feel sick to his stomach to think that all this time, a _Death Eater _had been living with the Weasleys. Just as he thought it couldn't get any worse, it got worse (of course).

"Mummy, why can't I get him instead? Ron doesn't want him anyway!" Ginny whined from her seat.

Oh great, just what he needed to see. Harry's soon-to-be best friend had been Molly's stubborness from getting in possession of the man who betrayed Harry's parents. The little redheaded girl was looking at the rat in the cage with her big brown eyes as if she felt sorry for him for getting into Ron's possession. Well, after having seen how well Ron organized the stuff in his dormroom, Severus guessed she would have a point that Ron was not the most accountable when it came to taking care of his possessions, but that was beside the point. Looking at the boy, he could see that Ron himself didn't look too eager to care for the rat in the cage either.

"Because Ron is older than you, Ginny, and he will be able to care for Scabbers better than you." Molly said with finality in her voice.

Ginny pouted, but didn't say anything. Ron just growled as he looked defeated and reached over to take the cage. Percy watched as his younger brother took his former pet and then stood up.

"You better take good care of him Ron. Now, if I am not needed to do anything else, I will retire to my chamber in order to do some homework before I go to bed. Good Night." Percy said as he made his way over towards the stairs and left the others.

When Percy disappeared up the stairs, the scene changed again and for a brief moment, Severus was watching as Scabbers was found by a 5 year old Percy in the garden of The Burrow. Severus growled. That slimeball had conciously searched out the family he knew would most likely accept something as trivial as a rat as a pet. But the scene didn't last for long and just after a few seconds, it disolved and instead turned into a crowded street. Severus felt his pulse rise as he realized what moment this was. This was the moment when Black had confronted Pettigrew! And sure enough, as he turned around he found the two former best friends standing opposite to each other. Pettigrew was looking at Black with a terryfied expression while Black's face was a mask. He probably didn't know if he was supposed to feel betrayed, furious, disappointed or disbelieving. No wait, scratch that. He probably felt all those emotions and didn't know which one to show.

"Peter... why?" he growled under his breath.

The man opposite to him didn't say anything. He simply stared at the man in front of him, not giving any recognition of knowing him. In his hand, Pettigrew held a wand, but it didn't look like it was his own. Severus narrowed his eyes to get a closer look at it and his eyes widened as he recognized Voldemort's wand. How and when had Pettigrew gotten ahold of that wand? Severus was certain that Voldemort must have brought it with him the night he went to kill the Potters, so why did Pettigrew have it when he confronted Black? Did that mean he had taken it from the Potters house? Wait, had the wand been in the house when Severus went there? Severus had hurried to the house as soon as he had heard the news that the Potters were dead. Hagrid had already been there when he got there, since Harry had been gone. But the wand... shouldn't it have been left on the floor in the room where Voldemort had lost his power? And he was pretty sure that was the room where he had found Lily...

Severus had to swallow hard to keep from growling in rage again. If the wand had been gone from the room when he got there, then that meant only one thing! Pettigrew had been to the Potters house before him! That slimy, good for nothing pile of Dragon Dung had sneaked his way into his best friend's house, minutes after their deaths and not bothered to even care about the fact that his best friend and his wife had been lying dead on the floor, but only to retrieve a bloody wand!

This thought made Severus seeth with anger. The list of reasons to let Pettigrew rotten away in Azkaban was growing by the minute! At that moment, he felt Pettigrew try to throw him out of his mind but it was a weak attempt. Severus would have laughed at the futile attempt if he hadn't been so angry. He was brought out of his thoughts when the memory kept playing and once again, it was Black who spoke.

"They were your best friends. They trusted you. _We _trusted you Peter. Why did you do it?" Black's voice still didn't betray many emotions, but Severus noticed that it had begun to tremble.

When Pettigrew still didn't say anything, Black took that as a confirmation that Pettigrew didn't feel any remorse for what he had done and his face twisted into one of pure rage as the hate he had built up for his old friend over the last few days finally reached the surface. Without wasting another second, Black swung his wand over his head as his eyes shot sparks towards his former friend.

"**Avada...**" Black's voice was loud and clear, but before he could finish his incatation, Pettigrew acted.

"HOW COULD YOU BETRAY LILY AND JAMES, SIRIUS?! **EXPULSO MAXIMA!**"

An enormous explosion shook the street as Pettigrew's curse hit the concrete. Severus was not surprised as he had known for a decade that something like this had to have been the curse used. However, he was shocked that Black, even in an enraged state, would resolve to using an unforgivable curse. He remembered that while Black hadn't been one to draw very clear lines in the sand, he had always been very strict when it came to use of the Unforgivables.

As the dust settled, he saw the all too familiar scene where Black was left and Pettigrew had fled, leaving behind a finger. He must have cut it off just before he escaped. But there was something here that didn't go along with the story that was being told. Black wasn't laughing. In the story that was being told of why Sirius Black was imprisoned in Azkaban, Black had been found laughing at the scene of his crime. But here, Black was not laughing. He was panting, probably from the shock of the explosion curse that his supposed "weak" former friend had pulled off, but he definetely wasn't laughing.

With that the scene disappeared as Severus retreated from Pettigrew's mind. He didn't need to see anything else. He most of all didn't want to see anything else. He had seen enough. As he came back to Dumbledore's office, he found that the headmaster was looking expectantly at him while Professor McGonagall was giving him a look of shock and dislike, but she didn't say anything. Severus cast one look at the man whimpering on the floor, which he by now was pretty sure was just an act, before he turned to Albus.

"Giulty. He sold the Potters to Voldemort and that's why Black went after him. He was the one who cast the curse that blew up the street and killed all those muggles and he used Voldemort's wand to do it." Severus glared back down at Pettigrew as he said that last part. "And I am pretty sure he still has that wand in his possession." Severus finished.

This picked Dumbledore's interest and the old man sat up straight in his armchair. Pettigrew peeked up at him, but was very careful not to meet his eyes. Apparently, he was a quick learner.

"Is that true, Peter?"

Pettigrew didn't say anything, nor did he make a move to deny or confirm it. Severus narrowed his eyes. Something wasn't right here. It felt too... familiar. For a moment, the memory where Black had faced off against Pettigrew came to mind and Severus eyes widened. Back then, Pettigrew hadn't made a move or given any recognition on his surroundings either, as if he was putting all of his senses on edge to be able to act the moment his opponent tried something. Slowly, Severus began reaching for his wand but it was too late. As soon as he moved, Pettigrew's hand flew inside his tattered robes and pulled out a wand. A bone white wand with a snake head at the handle. In a swift motion before Severus could react, Pettigrew was on his feet and swung his wand above his head.

"**Ventus Crepitus!**" Pettigrew shouted and released a wave of compressed air currents that sent the three surrounding Professors flying. Severus hit one of the bookshelves that stood along the walls of Dumbledore's office and grunted at the painful impact. Minerva was tossed up the stairs to the second floor of the office, and landed painfully on the last step. Dumbledore was thrown back but somehow managed to do a summersault in mid air and landed on his feet, wand in his hand. How agile was that old man? It shouldn't be possible!

However, Pettigrew hadn't waited for better times. The moment Severus, Albus and Minerva had been sent flying, he had darted across the room towards the Marauders' Map that was lying on Dumbledore's desk. Fawkes gave a screech of hostility and flew down from his spot to try and stop the offending wizard, but he missed by milimeters as Pettigrew chose that moment to transform back into a rat. Dumbledore swung his wand over his head and then pointed it towards the rat but missed due to a bad angle when the rat dove underneath the desk.

With a frustrated growl, Severus flew away from the bookshelf with his wand drawn and pointed his wand towards the desk, not caring the slightest that he might damage the headmaster's belongings.

"**Fulmenicos Extremos!**" he roared and for a moment, everything seemed to slow down as the tip of his wand began glowing with a white shine and the sound of sparks filled the room as the powerful curse charged up. And a moment later, the energy was released in the form of a lightning bolt that shot out of Severus wand and hit the desk with full force, before it went on to the destroy the window behind the desk. Minvera screamed in surprise and Pettigrew yelped in fright as the bolt passed just over his head.

The entire office was shaken from the power of the Bolt Curse Severus had performed and they couldn't even hear the glass splitter or the cracking from the destroyed desk as it was tossed out the window from the force of the curse. Feeling the drain of using such a power-consuming curse, Severus had to steady himself against one of the tipped over armchairs that they had been sitting in just a few moments ago. He cursed as he saw Pettigrew turn back to human and grabbed one of the parchments that had been left behind as the desk was destroyed and sent flying. Severus cursed under his panting breath as he realized that it was the Marauders' Map. Of course a magical object such as that would be charmed to be extremely difficult to destroy, or Filch would probably have done it when he first got into possession of it all those years ago.

As soon as he had layed hands on the parchement, Pettigrew vanished it and transformed back into a rat, barely avoiding the Stunner that Dumbledore had sent his way, before he darted towards the exit. With a furious growl, Severus took off after the rat with his wand at the ready, desperately hoping that the dizziness that layered in his head after the Powerful Elemental Curse he had performed would not affect his ability to cast spells. Not a second later, he was joined by Minerva and Albus as the three most powerful inhabitants chased after the rat.

**-:-:-:-**

Harry and his friends had just decided to make a pact, as neither of the teams seemed to be able to get an advantage over the other, when suddenly their attention was drawn to the castle as a loud thundering noise echoed over the grounds. It sounded like thunder from a big storm, causing Harry, Ron, Hannah, Susan, Daphne, Tracey, Blaise, Fred and George to cover their ears as to not go deaf. Harry looked up towards the castle, just in time to see a bolt of lightning shot across the sky from... Dumbledore's office? As the lightning died out, he saw some kind of object sailing through the air from the window, but it was too far away to see what it was. When the sound had died down, Harry swirled around to face his friends. All of them were looking back at him with the same, shocked expression.

"What the bloody hell was that?!" Ron exclaimed.

Though not all of them would have used Ron's choice of words, all of their friends nodded their heads in agreement with the young Weasley. Harry cast a worried look up towards Dumbledore's castle again, then turned back to his friends.

"I don't know, but something here is very wrong. Let's find out what!"

With that, he turned back towards the door and darted towards the castle over the grounds. Shocked by his reaction, not having expected him to run back towards the castle, his friends stared at him for a moment as if he was crazy, before Ron took off after him, followed by Fred and George, then Blaise, Hannah, Susan, Daphne and Tracey. The gryffindors, all being taller than Harry and with longer legs, was just about to catch up with their friend as he was half way to the door. Even from out on the grounds, one could hear the muffled noises and shouts coming from inside the castle and a second later, the large doors burst open in a shower of sparks. Out raced a grown man, about 30 in age, who was dressed in tattered clothes and had a bald spot on top of his gray hair. He looked up to see the group of youths running towards him and his eyes widened as they settled on Harry.

"Harry! Watch out!" came a shout from behind the man.

Harry was quick to react by pulling out his wand, just as Severus appeared from within the castle, with Dumbledore, McGonagall, Quirell and Sinistra on his heels. Seeing that Harry had pulled his wand rather than jump out of the way, Pettigrew felt that he was caught between a rock and a hard place. He was surrounded, with 5 Professors behind him and a group of children in front of him. His magical reserves had become pretty weak and unstable after having spent a decade as a rat so that Reverse Gale Hex he had used earlier had taken a lot out of him so he would most likely not be strong enough to perform another one of those. And even if he managed it, Dumbledore and the others would be expecting it this time and so it would lose its effectivity. Last time, he had gotten a lucky shot because neither of the professors in Dumbledore's office had expected it. With all that in mind, there really was only one option. With a determination that few had seen in his face, Pettigrew pointed his wand at the son of one of his former best friends at the same time Harry waved his towards Pettigrew.

"**Expelliarmus!**" Harry called the only dueling spell he had learnt so far.

"**Avada Kedavra!**" Pettigrew shouted.

A ray of green light shot out of the wand Pettigrew had stolen from Voldemort after his former master's defeat and clashed with the ray of red light that had shot out of Harry's. For a moment, the two spells seemed to be fighting for dominance as sparks and flashes was spit out of the sphere that had formed where the two spells had connected, then the air was filled with a strange song. It was a sad song, filled with pain and suffering that all the people that heard it could feel. But at the same time, it made all of them relax and stop their advance towards Pettigrew and Harry. Even Severus came to a stop as he listened to the song. It was the song of a Phoenix!

Behind Harry, all of his friends had stopped as suddenly, some kind of forcefield began materializing around the two wizards that had locked wands. Pettigrew's eyes grew wide with fear as this was not something he had expected. Opposite to him, Harry felt his chest constrict in shock and fear as his eyes danced around the sphere that had formed around him and Pettigrew. In his hand, his wand was shaking as if it was feeling the same pain that could be felt through the song. Or was it the wand that was singing?

The thought that this sound, this strange song that echoed across the grounds might be his own wand that was singing fascinated Harry and made him temporarily forget that he was currently in a duel, but he was soon brought back to the situation at hand as his wand gave off a screech as the sphere that had formed between him and Pettigrew began to come closer.

Behind Pettigrew, Severus had shaken himself out of his trance-like state that he had been put in when he heard the Phoenix Song. Seeing that Pettigrew had gotten over his shock and was trying to take down Harry, Severus gritted his teeth and lifted his wand.

"**Stupefy!**" he called and sent a ray of red light towards Pettigrew but when it reached the barrier, it bounced off and was sent back the way it came, causing Severus' eyes to widen. He was saved by Dumbledore, who held out his hand in front of him and managed to project a wandless protection barrier, similar to a Protego charm.

"It's useless. We can't do anything as long as they are in there." he said as he looked at the fascinating phenomenom in front of him. If he hadn't been so worried about Harry, he would probably have wanted to examine the sphere to see if it would be possible to project something similar at will through a yet unknown spell. To think that Harry had been a _Priori Incantatem _from getting hit with another Killing Curse made Dumbledore's stomach twist painfully. And in his school on top of that! He was supposed to protect Harry, but so far that had failed pretty badly and two times already had Harry found himself on the recieving end of a Killing Curse and both times, he had been saved by luck.

Inside the barrier, Harry was starting to feel that he was losing it. The sphere was getting closer and he felt himself struggling to hold it back. He was too inexperienced. He was not strong enough. But as he thought it, he felt something awaken inside of him. He felt a cold, yet heating sensation build in his chest and he felt himself grow stronger, causing the sphere to stop its advance on him and begin to drift towards Pettigrew, whose eyes widened in shock. Harry suddenly felt like he knew what this was. _Priori Incantatem_. He didn't know when or where, but he had read about it somewhere, a long time ago... It felt almost like that time during the flying lesson, when Malfoy had provoked him. He felt like he had known this before... in another life. And just like that day, if someone could get close enough to see it, Harry's eyes shifted from emerald green to a sickly yellow color as he felt a rage that was not his own enter his mind. Drawing on that anger, Harry pushed the sphere back towards Pettigrew and fast.

And then, Pettigrew's wand began shaking before letting out a sound like from a huge explosion, along with what appeared to be a projection of some sort that appeared from the tip of the wand. The projection showed the explosion as if it was shown on a bad television. From behind Pettigrew, Severus eyes narrowed as he recognized it as the same explosion he had seen when he was looking through Pettigrew's memory. Was Harry's wand forcing Voldemort's to project the spells it had cast beforehand? But if that was the case and Pettigrew hadn't used it before he faced Black, then...

Harry felt his eyes widen as another projection made its way out of Pettigrew's wand. But this time, it took the form of a human. A woman to be exact. As the projection landed on the ground and rose in her full height, Harry found himself staring at a young woman, about 21 of age, with long auburn red hair. If he didn't know better, he would almost have thought that he was looking at a Ginny from the future. That was until he met her eyes. They weren't the chocolate brown orbs that he had come to assosciate with his best friend. They were green. Emerald green. Just like his. Yeah, just like his... As he looked into his mother's eyes, he felt the strange rage receed back into the back of his mind where it had come from and the yellow in his eyes disappeared so his eyes took on their natural green color to match the woman in front of him.

"Mum?" he whispered in shock.

The projection of Lily Potter nodded her head. She looked him over for a second, taking in the appearence of her son, the son she never got to raise. Her face filled with sorrow as she walked over to Harry and put her hand over his to help hold the wand.

"Harry, hold on a little longer. Your father is on his way, he wants to say some words to you. Don't give up, I know you can do it!" her voice echoed, as if she was shouting her words from far away.

All around the dome that had formed between the two combatants, people was gasping and the female population had covered their hearts with their hands. Dumbledore's eyes widened when he heard the Astral Projection speak. He hadn't thought it possible for anything from the dead to be so... real, except through the use of the Ressurection stone. McGonagall had tears in her eyes as she looked at one of her favourite students, one of the friends she had lost during the war... It felt like a dream.

Behind Harry, people was starting to realize who the woman was. None of them had any idea of what was happening and Hannah had even taken cover behind one of the twins for protection. Ron was the first to realize who it was that had been summoned and his shocked gasp brought out many whispered questions from his friends. When he put forward his theory, most looked like they thought he had gone nuts, but then they heard Harry's whispered "Mum?" and turned around to see the beautiful young witch nod in confirmation. Susan's eyes widened and tears started to run down her cheeks. Hannah too was crying and Ron was staring wide eyed at the scene. The twins was gaping at the woman. This shouldn't be possible! The three slytherins felt a little out of place, but Blaise, after shaking himself out of his shock, decided to do what he could to be honourable and pulled of his cap. Taking his example, Daphne and Tracey did so too and once the others caught up with their trail of thought, they followed suit.

"LILYYYY!" came a scream that startled everyone present, including Harry. Who would have thought that Uncle Sev could produce such a sound?

The auburn haired woman in question looked up from her son to find a familiar face staring at her from the other side of the barrier. Severus Snape had rushed down to the magical barrier the moment he had seen his childhood friend and later love appear. His hands were pressed against the golden energy that was surrounding his surrogate son and his opponent. The barrier was sending shocks of painful energy, similar to electricity, through his body to try and repulse him, but he didn't let go. He pressed himself towards the barrier in desperation, tears streaming down his face as he locked eyes with Lily.

"Sev..." she said as she looked at him.

Severus took note of her calling him by the nickname she had used as a child instead of the less popular "Snivellus" that she had began using after their argument in 5th year. His chest constricted even more, if that was even possible, and his throat felt strangely dry as he tried to speak. There wasn't words to describe what he was feeling right now, but he had to try. He had to get through to her what he had failed to say all those years ago.

"I... I know I have no right to ask for forgiveness after what I did, but I just want to say... I'M SO SORRY!" he practically screamed the last part.

The surrounding people stared at him. They had never seen Severus Snape break down like this. But he didn't care. Right now, the only person he had eyes for was the projection of Lily that was standing next to her son inside the barrier that the _Priori Incantatem _had created.

Lily watched her childhood friend with sad eyes. Back when they had been children, Severus had been her best friend. And when they had come to Hogwarts, he had been the only person she knew. He had done some awful things since then, both during their time in school and after they graduated, things a normal person would never be able to forgive. And originally, Lily had thought even she would never be able to look at Severus as a friend again. But since then she had seen... seen how much Severus truly regretted his past actions. She had seen how Severus layed down his life to help raise Harry and how much he had done to help the Wizarding World recover from the chaos he had once been part of spreading. She had seen him in his office at night, sitting through the night just staring at old photos of them as children, happy together and she had seen him crying in his sleep over the mistakes he had made and the result of those mistakes. Now as she looked into his black, tearful eyes, Lily had to take a deep breath before she opened her mouth to give him an answer.

* * *

**A/N: **_And Boom! Bet you didn't see that coming. Now, I know Peter is a little... ok, VERY different from canon but I thought, why the hell not? It's not like everyone is like they were in canon *cough*Severus*cough*, that would be boring! And to be honest, I actually expected Wormtail to show us some kind of hidden darkness or something in the last book. I mean, he was able to cast Avada Kedavra succesfully after all so that must mean he had some kind of hatred and power inside of him, somewhere. And also, he got the draw on Sirius Black, who was an extremely skilled duelist and on top of that blew up an entire street, killing 14 people! It just didn't make any sense in my mind that a man that could do that was a cowards. Sure, a little lame and faint-hearted maybe, but he must have been at least decently strong in a sense to have performer these feats. _

_Now, I want to answer some FAQs. I have recieved countless reviews asking about how I will tackle Sirius and Severus trying to take care of Harry at the same time and I just want to say that you have to wait and see. It is all still hanging in the air._

_Aside from that, a lot of the reviews were positive, though I did recieve one saying that Sev was too OOC and that the story was Sh*t because of it. To that, and people who think similar, I can just say I'm sorry you don't like my story, but really why are you reading it if you don't like it? There are like 400k HP stories on this site so if you think this one is sh*t, just go read something else. _

_And as usual, to **Sisno2200**, I can understand why it rubs you the wrong way with Harry giving Ron Chocolate and Ginny a Golden Locket, but that's how it is now. Perhaps he will give Ronniekins something better next year, who knows? And yeah, I might have made a few more mistakes last chapter because I tried to get it up with all this sh*tty school work and stuff that I got up my neck right now and the same goes for this one. Also, I managed to lose about 2k words of this chapter so I might have been frustrated at some point.  
I can tell you that yes, different years can go into each other's dorms, as Ginny was able to enter Harry's dorm when she got back the diary in canon and Oliver Wood have entered Harry's dorm more than once to wake him up for early quidditch practice. Aside from that, I'm glad you're still with me and hope you still will be after this kind of extreme chapter. And since your profile picture is a Pikachu, why don't you go and check out my new Pokemon Story, Serene Phoenix?_

_And with that, I thank you for reading this 13th chapter and I really hope that this isn't the unlucky chapter where I mess up the story (yes, 13 is an unlucky number for me). I kindly ask all of you to leave a review so I know what you think of the first real "action" chapter and how I did on the fighting part. And even if you don't have anything to say about the fight, just leave a review to let me know what you think, ok? This is Mr Oakzzz, signing out for now! =)_


	14. The Darkness Within

**A/N: **_Hello my dear readers! I am so sorry this took so long, but I just ran into a wall and didn't really know what to write for this! I know I was terrible for making you wait this long with that Cliffhanger I left you with, but please forgive me! _

_Now, I have finally gotten this chapter together, though it might be a little messy due to lacking continous writing. I hope it is still readable and understandable though, because it contains some really interesting stuff. _

_On another note, my Pokemon Story Serene Phoenix have now passed this one in reviews! Come on guys, are you going to be outmatched by a fanfic about a children's cartoon? Go for it guys! You just need to write a single sentence, saying I'm doing OK! =) If you think I do, that is of course..._

_Now, you have been kept waiting long enough so here we go: Chapter Fourteen!_

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters.

* * *

**Chapter Fourteen: **The Darkness Within

No one said a word as Lily opened her mouth to answer Severus plea for forgiveness. Harry looked up at his mother's spirit, hoping she would forgive the man who had been so important to him for all his life.

"Severus... you know I can't forgive you for _that... _but I do accept your apology." she said as she looked into her childhood friend's eyes.

Severus eyes widened. The tears that were streaming down his face was glimmering in the rays of light that the two locked together wands were sending out. Lily offered her childhood friend a sad smile as she continued.

"I have seen how truly sorry you are over your past actions and after all you have done for Harry, I am glad you were my friend, even though we didn't see each other as such when I left this world." she said in her melodic, echoing voice.

Over by the crowd of Professors, Dumbledore had shaken himself out of his stupor at hearing Lily talk to Severus. This should not be possible. The projection of Lily should only have been an Astral Projection, an echo of her thoughts, yet this Projection seemed to have the conciousness and personality of the real Lily, the one that should be dead. Was this a result of Harry's and Voldemort's connection? Or was it something else? Well, he could worry about that later. Now, there were things they needed to do.

"Minerva, I need you to help me set up a barrier around the barrier. When the wand connection is broken, we have to catch Pettigrew, no matter what!"

He received a confirming nod from his Tranfiguration Professor and the two immediately went to work when a second Astral Projection appeared from Wormtail's wand. This time, the projection floated all the way over to Harry's side before it took the shape of a human... The shape of James Potter.

James' eyes scanned the scene in which he had landed, until they finally settled on the terrified Pettigrew, who was standing opposite to James' son. When his eyes landed on his former friend, they narrowed and took on a disappointed look.

"Peter..." his voice was as much an echo as his wife's was. "I entrusted you with my life. I entrusted you with my family's life. I thought we were friends. Why did you betray us?"

Pettigrew shook his head, not knowing what he was supposed to say. He could hardly make a sound. He had not expected this to happen. He swallowed hard and tried to refocus his energy into pushing Harry's spell back, but in his heart, he knew that he had lost. He had lost the moment his wand locked with Harry's and slowed down his escape.

Meanwhile, James had turned away from his former friend and was looking down at his son with a proud look on his face. Harry looked back up into his father's face, so much like his own, with tears in his eyes. Never had he imagined that he would get to see his parents, but here they were, both standing in front of him.

"Dad..." he croaked out with emotional voice.

James gave him a sad smile and put a hand on his son's shoulder. Outside the barrier, Snape scowled at seeing his former sworn enemy and school bully again, acting all fatherly towards Harry, but he bit back the nasty comment that had been threatening to escape his lips and reminded himself that James after all was Harry's actual father.

"Harry, my son. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am about the way you have been forced to grow up. This wasn't how it was supposed to be." he said with his voice echoing all around the school grounds, as if there were at least 10 James' speaking in conjunction.

The boy in question was trying to wipe his eyes with his sleeve while still holding on to his wand with both of his hands. The wand was shaking in his hands and he almost lost grip of it.

"But I didn't come here to apologize for something that was completely out of my hands. I came here because I wanted to tell you how proud I am of how much you have grown and how proud I am to be your father."

Harry just swallowed as he took in his father's praise. Hearing his father's voice, seeing him standing beside him... this was all that he had dreamed off. To be able to see and talk to his parents, even if it was only like this, for a short time. He didn't know what was happening but somehow he knew that when he broke the connection between his own and Pettigrew's wands, his parents would disappear. The thought of losing them again burned at his insides, but he tried to savour the moment instead of letting his sadness ruin it.

"Thanks dad. Y-you have no idea how much that means to me." he managed to croak back.

James just smiled a thim and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, trying to project his own power into Harry so that his son could keep the wand lock a little longer. There was still something he needed to do before he was sent back to the afterlife. However, as he was about to turn around to face the man he wanted to talk to, he felt himself getting a bit nervous. After all these years...

"James..." his wife said and gave him an encouraging smile.

Feeling his resolve strengthen from Lily's encouragement, James took a deep breath and turned around, towards the man that was standing just outside the magical barrier. His hair looked a lot cleaner than James remembered it from school, though it was still as black and hanging down in front of his face as it always had. The abnormally long nose that had been the reason and victim to so many cruel jokes during their time at Hogwarts seemed to have gotten even longer and more crooked than it used to be and the man's black eyes squinted with an almost disgusted look as James Potter locked eyes with Severus Snape for the first time since they left school.

Severus had spent years trying to not let his hatred of James Potter cloud his judgement and view on Harry and after a time, it had slowly started to ebb away, as if time was slowly wearing it down, like the waves of the sea slowly wears down a rock. But now, seeing his old nemesis again had brought all those feelings back up to the surface. Years and years of detestment came bubbling back up inside of him and he couldn't help but scowl at the man that had made his school years a living hell at times.

"Potter..." he growled as he clenched his hands against the magical barrier that was still trying to reject him.

"Sniv... _Severus_." James was quick to correct himself. While he still did not think too highly of the man and, unlike Lily, still refused to regard him as a friend in any way, he knew that he had Harry's raising and life to thank Snape for. And so, he tried to keep as neutral a voice as he could.

Surprised to be spoken to by his real name, the scowl on Severus' face faded slightly and was replaced with a frown. The slip at the start hadn't gone unnoticed by him, but he was surprised that James was actually making the effort of trying to talk to him in a civil way. As far as he could remember, this was the first time that James used his real name, rather than a bad nickname or his surname.

While Snape was trying to think of any other occasion where James had used his real name, James himself was trying to muster up the courage to say what he wanted to say. He could feel Lily giving him a calculating look from behind, but tried to shake it off. He wasn't doing this because Lily wanted him to. Heck, he wasn't completely sure why he was doing it at all, but at least he felt it was right. Spurred on by that thought, he took a deep breath and swallowed before he started speaking.

"I never thought I would say this, and I doubt you did either, but thanks for what you have done these last years, Snape." Severus noted James' return to using his surname." I can't say I particularly like you still, but after all you have done for Harry, I believe I owe you an apology. I was a complete jerk in school."

Behind him, Lily nodded in agreement. Harry on the other hand tried to listen in on the conversation but seemed to be having trouble as whenever he tried to catch on to more than 2 words, the sphere of magical energy that was hovering between him and Pettigrew began to move towards him. Figuring that he would have to ask Severus about it later, he instead focused all of his energy into forcing the sphere back towards Pettigrew.

Meanwhile, Severus was looking at James as if he thought he had gone mad. James apologized to _him?! _He would have thought that the man would be furious with him. After all, he was the reason that James and his wife was dead. He was just about to answer when Pettigrew gave off a pained yelp and somehow managed to tear his wand away and break the connection. Seeing that their time was just about up, both the older Potters turned to face their son one last time before they disappeared.

"Harry, whatever happens don't give up! You have a hard time ahead of you, but never doubt yourself. We know you can do it!" James said as he felt his soul starting to leave the realm of the living once more.

"We will always watch over you! Keep your friends close and believe in your own potential and powers! And never forget that we love you, Harry!" Lily managed to get through before her image began to fade away.

Harry looked up at his fading parents with tears in his eyes. He felt his chest constrict painfully as he watched his parents fade away. He had just met them for the first time in his life, he had barely spoken to his father and already were they disappearing. He tried to say something but as soon as the wand lock had been broken, he felt his energy drop drastically. He had used up too much energy during his struggle against Pettigrew. His vision began to blurr and he found that he had trouble breathing. As people began moving around him, Harry felt his knees hit the ground.

"Harry!" came a few worried shouts from behind him, but by now Harry could barely hear them.

"Now Minerva!" Dumbledore's command rang above all toher voices as he and McGonagall cast the Barrier Charm around the two combatants to try and confine Pettigrew before he could make another run for it. The mere fact that he had managed to escape them the first time was embarrassing enough.

They however, hadn't need to worry. Pettigrew seemed to be just drained from this struggle as Harry had been, and to top it off he was still magically drained from having spent 10 years as a rat and the stunt he had pulled in the headmaster's office. As Harry fell to his knees, Pettigrew began to feel the strain of using up too much magical energy in a too small amount of time. He recognized it as Magical Exhaustion, something he had suffered a few times during his first year at school before his magic had really awoken completely.

With his vision blurry and limbs unresponsive, Harry tried desperately to see what was going on around him, but it was all a big blur. He could barely make out the silhouettes of the people that began to race towards him when the last of the golden glow, that he was pretty sure was the last remnants of the barrier that had been created when his wand had met the spell cast by Pettigrew's wand. Thousands of questions raced through Harry's head as he fought to stay concious. What had just happened? Who was that strange man? How had his parents shown up here? Weren't they dead? Or had it been their ghosts? But despite his struggle to stay concious, Harry could not fight of the exhaution that was sneaking up on him and after just a few seconds, he felt himself being claimed by darkness.

**-:-:-:-**

Ginny sighed contently as she threw herself down in her bed at The Burrow. Hotel beds were comfortable, but there were nothing like home. This was the first time she had been away from The Burrow more than just a day at a time and strangely enough, it felt good. She had been a little homesick of course, but there had been so much to see and so much to do in Romania that she had barely thought about it. And it had been nice to see Charlie again. She hadn't seen him since he finished school and went off to study dragons. Those had also been cool to see, though her mother had clearly been against letting Ginny anywhere near them.

'_Imagine, in a little less than half a year I will be going to an even more magical place.' _she thought. It would be the best thing to have ever happened to her. She would be going to Hogwarts and she would not be alone. She knew that Luna Lovegood, a girl who lived nearby, would also be going and then of course there was her brothers and Harry. Yes, Harry...

As she thought about him, Ginny reached inside her shirt and closed her hand around the golden locket that was hanging around her neck. She couldn't believe that Harry had actually bought her something out of _pure gold_. This locket alone was probably worth more than all that was in currently in her room, including the bed and the desk. The thought that she was carrying something around her neck that was worth more than the bed she slept in made her feel a little uncomfortable, because it really made her feel the difference between her own finances and Harry's. It made her feel inferior in a way and she didn't like that one bit. Ginny had never been one to just accept that she was inferior to anyone, not even her brothers or her parents. That stubborness had been the scource to a lot of rows between herself and her mother, both of whom shared a very nasty temper. She knew that Harry had not meant to make her feel like this, but she couldn't help feeling at least a little inferior to him in a way. You just can't compare a handmade photoframe to a golden locket.

"MEOW!"

The irritated noise brought Ginny out of her thoughts. She looked around vividly and found the closed basket still resting on her bedside table. She had forgotten to let out Kurt! Shaking her head to clear it of the depressing thoughts, she swiftly sat up and reached over to remove the lid. Kurt wasted no time and took a leap out of the basket and onto the bed almost the same moment the lid was off. He stretched his stiff limbs, then fixed his green eyes at Ginny.

Meeting his eyes, Ginny felt herself relax. She had found that Kurt's eyes tended to remind her of Harry's own and looking into them always made her feel more relaxed.

"You think I'm being silly, don't you?" she asked as she scratched the little kitten behind the ears.

Kurt gave a content purr and laid down to try and rest a little. Ginny just smiled and mentally reprimanded herself for feeling inferior to Harry. Of course she was a little inferior to him. Harry had no brothers or sisters that he had to share his money with, and to top it off, he had no parents so all the money owned by his family was rightfully his. She could not compare to him in terms of money, because she still had both her parents and on top of that 6 brothers. And, she reminded herself sadly, Harry had no people he really considered friends, and very few that he considered family so he had no other people to spend his money on. Well, he could save it of course, but according to what she had heard, the Potter Family had been quite well off so he probably would have no problems with that. She would just have to accept that Harry might be a little more well off when it came to finances than her. However, she would have to talk to him about giving her things this expensive, the next time she saw him.

With that thought in mind, Ginny was just about to get up to unpack her bag when she heard a knock on the window. She looked over to the closed window and spotted a snow white owl just outside, flapping her wings to stay airborne.

"Hedwig?"

She rushed over to the window and opened it to let in the familiar bird, who as usual took her spot at the back of the chair by the desk. Ginny curiously made her way over and began to detach the parchment roll, wondering what Harry could possibly have to say this time. However, as she got it loose, she felt her heart skip a beat. This was not Harry's handwriting. He could write way better than this! It looked more like... Ron's?

Not knowing what to expect or why her brother would write her a letter and send it with Hedwig, she decided to just open and read it to find out. However, as her eyes travelled down the parchment, which was only long because the person on the other side had written it with very large letters and by the looks of it been quite unsteady at the hand when he wrote it, she felt her chest turn cold as her mind wrapped itself around what it said. No... NO! This just couldn't be!

Not realizing that she had shouted that last part out loud, Ginny fell to the floor, clutching the letter in her hand. Harry was knocked out? And he had been unconcious for 3 days straight?! She swallowed hard, trying to calm her beating heart and hysteric breathing. Not again! She had been close to fainting when she had heard that he had faced off against a fully grown mountain troll on Halloween and now he had somehow managed to land himself in a coma?! Ron hadn't even had the decency to write down what had happened!

"Ginny?! What is it?" a worried voice came from the doorway and a second later, her mom and dad came busting into the room.

Ginny barely recongized the fact that her cheeks were tearstained when she looked up at her parents' worried faces, but the look they gave her told her as much. Molly wasted no time and quickly bent down to scoop up her daughter into what she hoped was a comforting embrace. Ginny hiccuped and leaned into her mother's shoulder while her father just stared at her, worried what could possibly be wrong with his daughter. She seemed to be fine, well physically at least.

"Ssh, Ginny. It's ok, mommy's here." Molly tried to soothe the little girl whose sobs shook the pair.

"No...No, no it's not ok." Ginny managed to get out through her sobs.

By this time, Arthur had managed to regain his normal state of mind and had made his way over to his wife and daughter. The two red-haired women didn't take much notice of him and he felt like this was a time where he should not interrupt them, but he still wanted to be of some help and show his comfort so he reached down and wrapped Ginny's tiny hand in his own. The girl looked up at him when she felt his touch, but then just nodded in appreciation when he smiled warmingly at her, trying to wordlessly give her his support.

For a while, they just stayed like that, with Molly whispering comforting words in Ginny's ear. She didn't know what had caused her daughter to become like this, but it had to be something bad. After what felt like an hour, but actually was only 5 minutes, Ginny had finally composed herself enough to steady her voice.

"I-it's Harry. R-Ron just s-sent me this letter to tell me that Harry is in a c-coma."

Molly gasped at that declaration. Arthur didn't gasp, but his face became white as a sheet. He may not know the boy very well, but from what he had heard Harry had already managed to get himself into a life-threatening situation once during this year, during the Halloween evening.

"What do you mean "he's in a coma"? What happened?" Molly asked.

Ginny just shook her head and handed her the letter. Molly frowned and took the letter. Arthur bent down so he was on eye level with Ginny and tried to give her a reassuring smile. Ginny let go of her mother and instead found herself in her father's embrace, so her mother could read the letter.

_Dear Ginny_

_I'm sorry this letter isn't from Harry, but right now he isn't really capable of writing. We had some crazy stuff going down and Harry have been unconcios for 3 days. At least I think it is 3 days now, didn't really count, but he's been in the Hospital Wing since Christmas. Anyway, I thought you deserved to know since he is your friend._

_Your brother,  
Ron_

The way it was written clearly showed that Ron was not used to writing letters. Molly read the letter one more time, trying to make sense of her son's writing. What Ron considered "some crazy stuff" could be practically anything, so there was no clue to what had really happened there. The fact that Ron hadn't said what had happened and just hinted that it had been something bad did nothing to soother Molly's nerves, and it was probably even worse for Ginny, who regarded Harry as her best friend.

"I want to go see him."

Molly was brought out of her thoughts by Ginny's voice. It had regained some of the usual strenght it held and looking over at her, Molly saw that Ginny seemed to have somehow managed to swallow down her sobs. She was now trying to dry the tearstains off her cheeks with her sleeve.

"Don't be silly, you can't go there." Molly tried to reason with her daughter. Arthur didn't say anything. He seemed to be deep in thought.

Ginny was about to give a snappy answer that her mother couldn't rule of her, but managed to hold it down at the last second. It wouldn't help to get angry now. She was emotionally unstable as it was, even without snapping at her mother.

"Please mum! I want to be there for him! He's my best friend!" she pleaded, feeling herself shiver slightly when she heard how weak her own voice sounded. She had thought she was past sounding like a scared, lonely little girl but it would seem like that had come back now that Harry was in a coma.

Looking down at her daughter, Molly had to bite her lower lip to keep from giving a snappy answer. Ginny hadn't sounded that weak since before she met Harry. She could see that her daughter was really worried about her best friend and giving it a second thought, Molly couldn't blame her for wanting to go see him. Honestly, she kind of wanted to go see how he was doing herself. The boy had seemed so kind and gentle when she met him and he had done nothing to put himself on her bad side and despite the fact that he seemed to have a habit of spoiling her daughter a little too badly, she had found that she regarded him quite highly as well, despite not really knowing him. He had managed to bring out the best of Ginny in a way no one else had, not even Molly herself, and that in itself made Molly want to make sure he was alright. But that kind of caught her between a rock and a hard place, because it would be hypocritical to deny Ginny the right to go see her best friend and then go herself to check up on him. Struggling to find an answer to what she was supposed to do, Molly found herself looking at her husband for guidance.

"It might not be that easy, Ginny. Since you are underage and not a student there, we will need the Headmaster's consent before you can go visit and I'm not sure Albus will agree to that. So how about we first contact Albus and see if it is even possible for you to go visit Harry before we make any descisions?"

Ginny looked like she wanted to argue, but before she could come up with a good argument, she realized that there would be no point. If her father had made up his mind about this, then there would be no arguing about it. She reluctantly hung her head in acceptance.

Arthur studied his daughter for a moment with mixed feelings. He really didn't want to disappoint her, but truth was that they would need Dumbledore's or another Professor's consent to visit the castle with Ginny. He tried to give his wife an encouraging smile when Molly looked up at him with a grateful look on her face, letting him know that she was at as much a loss of what to do as he was.

"Well, I'll go floo Albus straight away. You just stay here with Ginny." he said to his wife and left the two Weasley women alone. He made his way down the stairs while thinking about what could have possibly happen to put Harry in a coma. He had heard about the Troll Incident earlier that year and that had shaken him up greatly as nothing of the like had ever happened during the time his other sons had been at the school. And though that one could have just been a coincidence, he felt that it was starting to look like someone was out to harm Harry. Something told him that there was a dark cloud hanging over Harry Potter, and that put him slightly at unease, knowing that Harry was good friends with Ron and best friends with Ginny. Not to mention the boy himself had inserted himself as a person whom Arthur held in high regard. He knew he wouldn't be able to keep them apart, even if he wanted to do so (which he honestly didn't), since they would be going to the same school, but it still unnerved him that so much was starting to happen at the school now that Harry Potter was back there. It was a little too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence.

**-:-:-:-**

Harry felt his head throb painfully in the darkness. He felt like he was floating endlessly in darkness and had been like that for quite some time. What had happened? He remembered Pettigrew breaking the wand connection, but then everything went blank. What had happened back then anyway? It had all went by so fast his mind hadn't had the time to really register what had happened. One minute, he was on his way to the castle to eat lunch with his friends and the next he was locked in combat, if you could call it that, with a to him unknown man who had come rushing out of the castle with several Professors hunting him. Thinking back, it all felt so bizarre, like a strange dream that he had now woken up from.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. Just as when he had done it just a few minutes ago, he was still floating in endless darkness. What was this place? It felt familiar somehow but foreign at the same time. He didn't know how long he had been here, but it felt like he was stuck somewhere between the confines of time and space, if that made any sense. At times, he had thought he could feel the touch of a cold stone floor underneath him, but when he had opened his eyes he was still floating.

_"Harry..."_

Harry froze. What was that voice? Or was it even a voice? It sounded more like a hissing of some kind. Feeling his heart tremble with fear that came floating to him with the voice, Harry had to bite his jaws shut tightly to not stutter out a terryfied answer. That voice sent shivers down his entire body, it felt like it was the sound of coldness.

"_Come here... Harry..."_ the voice echoed against and suddenly Harry felt himself being jerked upwards, as if he was rapidly being dragged towards the sky. He felt a tickling sensation somewhere in his belly and then, it all stopped and he suddenly felt himself falling onto a hard stone floor. He yelped in fright and surprise and opened his eyes in shock.

But this time, he really was lying on a cold stone floor. It was not an illusion. Or was it? No, he could see it and feel it clearly now. He was in what appeared to be a cubic room made out of stone. It looked similar to the same kind of stones used to build Hogwarts. Was he in some kind of secret room in the castle? He looked around for any clue on where he could be, but there was nothing that could hint at any place he knew off. The room was completely cubic, and was lit by torches that was hooked to the walls and that was flaring with light blue flames. The room was divided in half at the middle by large iron bars and there was no door. Was he in jail?

It took a moment for Harry to compose himself to sit up correctly. His entire body ached from hitting the floor too hard and he felt numb in his arms and legs, as if they hadn't been used for days. What in the world was this place? And why was the other half of the room shrouded in darkness? The torches should be able to pierce through that without trouble, they lit up his half of the room easily so why did the other half of the room look like someone had covered it with a large, black cloth or something?

_"Hehe, it's because this is the dark part of yourself... Harry." _came the hissing voice from somewhere behind the bars.

Harry jumped and immediately got to his feet and staggered backwards, trying to get away from the hissing voice. He reached the opposite wall in no time and looked over in the direction where the voice had come from... only to find a pair of big, glowing, yellow eyes glaring back at him from within the darkness. Nothing else could be seen, but the creepy, piercing glare from the seemingly floating eyes was enough for Harry to feel his heart tremble. It felt as if the eyes could see straight through him and read his mind. Wait, perhaps they could? He was pretty sure that he had not said his question out loud, yet that... whatever it was, had answered him.

"_You're right Harry. There is nothing you can hide from me. I know everything about you. I see everything you see. I think everything you think, because I am part of you!" _

Swallowing hard, Harry tried to muster up the courage to look the eyes in, well... the eyes. He didn't know what was going on, but this whole situation made the hairs stand on edge on his back.

"_You don't know what's happening?" _the hissing voice mocked. _"One would think you would know your own mind, foolish boy." _

Despite his shocked state, Harry managed to hang onto the meaning of what the voice was implying. _His own mind... _Was this his mind? He was inside his own head? That revealation shocked him enough to cause his body to stop trembling. Suddenly, the instense fear he had felt just a moment ago seemed to vanish. He looked over towards the yellow eyes. They looked oddly familiar, but he couldn't ever remember seeing eyes that radiated this much coldness and hatred. Then... could it be from an occasion that he didn't remember?

_"I see that you are catching on, Harry." _the voice chuckled.

Hearing the voice confirm his suspicion that he knew it from an occasion he couldn't remember, Harry felt his chest freeze over, as if someone had just dipped his heart in ice cold water. It made all too much sense. Eyes that radiated hatred and coldness, a voice that sounded more like a hissing... and he knew this someone from a time or occasion that he couldn't remember.

"V-Voldemort?" he managed to croak out, scared by how weak his own voice sounded.

The hissing voice cackled in glee at the weakness his voice gave away and the yellow eyes gleamed with malice.

_"I see that even the great "Boy-Who-Lived", tremble in fear of my name, Harry Potter." _

Harry swallowed hard, trying desperately to get free of the fear that had gripped his heart again after the revealation of who it was he was talking to. This made no sense. If this really was inside his mind, then why was Voldemort here? He felt his shirt grow wet from sweating and had to steady himself against the wall to not fall.

"H-how? Why are you in my mind?" Harry asked weakly.

"_How and why, even I don't know. I am merely a piece of the man known as Lord Voldemort, a shadow of my real self." _

Harry's mind, despite his state of shock, was spinning wildly to try and comprehend and make sense of every word that Voldemort told him. This all felt so surreal, yet he knew it was real or he wouldn't be this terryfied. A piece? A shadow? What was this all about.

_"You see Harry, I am not really Voldemort. I am simply a piece of his soul that was somehow tore loose and absorbed by you, the night I tried to kill you. Up until that point, me and Voldemort were one and the same, but ever since then I have been separate from him, existing only as a mere parasite inside of your mind."_

Harry didn't know what to think. His mind seemed to have stopped working. He still hung on to every word Voldemort said, but he couldn't make any sense out of it. Despite what he was being told, he couldn't understand how or what had really happened or even how it had come to the point that Voldemort was in his mind. Was Voldemort possessing him? Or was Voldemort locked up inside him? What exactly was the nature of this state, with Voldemort being inside his mind and how did it work?

_"Your second guess was more accurate than your first. I have tried to take control of your body or free myself for more than 10 years now, but it seems I am stuck behind these bars, locked up by your mother's foolish sacrifice. You see, when she died to protect you she unknowingly summoned a protection around you. A protection that makes even me unable to even lay a finger on you."_

Despite not really answering his question, this statement made Harry release a breath he had not been aware that he was holding. It felt good to know that he was protected, despite the close proximity of his mind and Voldemort. Feeling slightly more courageous, Harry took a deep breath and sat down on the floor, looking at the floating eyes expectantly, hoping that Voldemort would tell him more. The eyes narrowed in anger at this, in his mind, nonchalant gesture but ultimately decided that he had nothing to gain from not telling the boy what he knew.

"_It was love." _Voldemort spit the last word with disgust. "_When dumb, sweet Lily Potter gave her life to protect you, her love for you became a protection that protect you from anyone who tries to do harm to you. I do not know to what extent, but I cannot leave this dark part of the room. My guess is that these bars here represents the protection itself. This entire room represents your mind, I guess you could call it your "mindscape", and this dark part contains all your dark thoughts and feelings, while that part where you're sitting contains all your happy thoughts and feelings. I cannot venture to the other side of these bars and only during certain circumstances can I influence you in any way." _

Having let go of most of his fear when he had been told that he was protected from Voldemort inside his mind, Harry's mind had cleared up a lot and he found himself listening intently, trying to make more sense of it all. And so far, he had somehow managed to wrap his mind around most of it. From what he could understand, his mother had given him some kind of protection and it protected him from this piece of Voldemort that was inside of him. He still didn't understand how a piece of Voldemort had ended up in his mind though.

"So you're saying that my mind is kind of like your prison, of sorts?" he asked, feeling his strenght return to him now that he wasn't so terryfied anymore. Aparently, Voldemort felt it too, because he narrowed his eyes angrily at the lack of fear in Harry's voice when he spoke, as opposed to just a few mintues ago.

_"In a sense, yes."_ Voldmeort growled. "_My being and the residual magic I got from my real self is locked up and I have no way of getting loose, because I don't know what it is that has happened. All I know is that murdering by using magic tears the soul apart, but I didn't perform the ritual to separate the soulpiece from my body so what happened after that is a mystery, even to me." _

Listening to Voldemort's explanation, Harry found himself surprisingly calm considering he had just gotten to know that he shared his mindscape with a part of the man who had killed his parents. It still unnerved him greatly, but somehow it felt like he had always known it on some kind of subconcious level. And knowing what he now knew, a lot of the weird stuff that had been happening to him got a possible explanation. That feeling he got that he knew his studies since before sometimes, the cold rage that he felt when he was really angry that wasn't his own, his large magical reserves and trouble controlling his magic and that sudden increase in power during the fight with Pettigrew...

_"You're catching on quickly." _Voldemort said, though it lacked any actual praise and was said with a rather dry voice.

Harry took that as a confirmation. So that was the reason he had so much trouble controlling his magic and why his magical reserves were developed beyond his years. His reserves had adapted to having 2 magical cores within him, that's why the magic was so out of control when he used his wand. He could still do wandless magic, because that required the ridiculus amounts of magical energy he had but using a wand he needed to focus his magic better and that was a problem when the power came from two directions. It was like when two rivers met, the flow in both rivers got disturbed and the same thing happened when he tried to focus his magic through his wand.

Voldemort eyed Harry as his thoughts were projected. For someone so young, he had to admit that the boy was very intelligent. No wonder the prophecy had foretold that this boy could very well be his downfall. No... not _his_ dowfall. He himself was no longer part of Voldemort. The man Voldemort was still alive, somewhere out there, but powerless. He had stopped being Voldemort when he separated from the man's body. But at the same time, he wasn't a horcrux in the same way as the others were either, because he was a concious, separate being. While all the horcruxes had a set task they could perform and act on their own accord, none of them was actually a separate mind and simply had a programming. What was he really?

"You can't hear my thoughts anymore?"

Voldemort, or whatever he was, got brought out of his thoughts by Harry's question.

_"What?!"_ he snapped, angry to have his thoughts interrupted.

Harry felt shivers run down his spine at Voldemort's harsh voice and the angry glare that he fixed him with did nothing to soothe out that feeling. However, he had asked a question and intended to get an answer out of it.

"I asked if my magic drains yours when I use a simple spell." he tried to push his question.

Voldemort didn't answer. He just glared at Harry, who had to swallow to fight down the urge to look away. Even if he knew that Voldemort could not hurt him while they were inside his own mind, that cold and hateful gaze still made his insides feel cold.

_"Your body have accustomed to having 2 magical cores, however you do not pull upon my magic when you cast a simple spell. My magic is linked to what is behind these bars, your dark emotions, such as pure rage or desperation or desire for more power. When you experience these emotions, the darkness from in here will leak its way into your system and along with them comes power from my magical core. A small amount leaks from my core constantly because the bars can't completely hold it all in, but that small amount is absorbed by your own core and that's why it's prematured."_

Harry found himself wondering why Voldemort shared this information with him. While he did not particularly like the scource, he still felt that it all sounded reasonable and like a likely view of this whole thing. To say that he hung on to every word would be an understatement. He was practically entranced by what he was being told. He didn't know why he even was this interested in Voldemort's theories. He felt like he should be furious with this... thing, even if it was not technically the real Voldemort. This thing had declared that he had tried to kill Harry and not shown any sign of regret. But he also felt that this thing... whatever he was, was not really the same as Voldemort. In a sense he was, but in another he wasn't. This Voldemort had stated himself that he no longer was part of the "being" known as Lord Voldemort, so who or what was he? Aww, this was getting really confusing!

_"I am as confused as you on that point." _Voldemort muttered, barely hearable.

Looking at the eyes of the soulpiece, Harry could almost feel the great confusion within it. Well, perhaps he could really feel it, since they shared his mind? He wasn't sure, but looking at this thing now he doubted it was just Voldemort. From what he had heard, Voldemort had always been very sure of himself and even overconfident in his own abilities at times (at least according to Uncle Al) but this thing had not displayed any of those traits. Well, it had shown that it clearly didn't like Harry and he was pretty sure that if it just got lose he would be dead by now, but at the same time it had been surprisingly cooperative when Harry had asked a question. It was as if it didn't know quite what it wanted itself.

"I think we should get you a name. You aren't really Voldemort, right?" Harry said.

_"What are you talking about? Of course I am!" _Voldemort hissed angrily.

This time, Harry didn't flinch at Voldemort's voice. Naming this... whatever this soulpiece-thing was would be a good way to keep him apart from the real Voldemort.

"You said yourself that you were just a mere fragment of Voldemort's soul, right? So you're not really him! You said so yourself!"

The soulpiece gave off an angry snarl, but didn't say anything. He had said so, after all. Why had he even said that to Harry? It wasn't really relevant to their conversation... why was he having this conversation anyway? And what was this stupid idea of giving him a new name? He was Voldemort! But yet he wasn't... Gah! Curse this whole stupid imprisonment and all that came with it!

The soulpiece was however saved from getting a new name as suddenly, the room began to get enveloped in a bright light. It wasn't blinding, but it was a sure difference to the gloomy light that had filled Harry's mindscape before.

"_It looks like you are waking up, Harry." _Voldemort's soulpiece chuckled. Truth to be told, he felt relieved to finally be rid of Harry. The boy had gotten a little bit too comfortable in his presence. He was used to being able to instal fear in those who saw him, but the fear had ebbed away from Harry when he got to know that Voldemort could not hurt him here. Stupid to even mention it. Why had he even told Harry anything?

Harry looked at himself and saw his form fade, almost similar to how his parents had faded from reality when the wand connection broke. His parents! Perhaps Voldemort knew something about what had happened! Why hadn't he asked before? He tried to voice his thoughts, but before he managed to ask about his parents, he felt that strange sensation of being jerked upwards as his mindscape faded around him and he floated back to the land of the living.

* * *

**A/N: **_So as I said, lots of crazy stuff going down here. I'm telling you, these were among the hardest scenes I have ever written, both with Harry's parents and then with Voldemort's soulpiece. Anyway, I don't have much to say here so I'll just say once again: Review to let me know how I did. This chapter was a really hard one to write so I would really like to know what you think! And with that, MrOakzzz signs out yet another time, with a promise of faster updates that this last one! _


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